Cardiff City: Omer Riza issues revelation on transfer talks for 12-goal forward | OneFootball

Omer Riza has discussed Cardiff City's interest in Ricky-Jade Jones, which was exclusively revealed by Football League World on Monday evening

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza has confirmed discussions are underway regarding a potential deal for Peterborough United forward Ricky-Jade Jones, after Football League World exclusively revealed an enquiry from the Championship side on Monday evening.

The Bluebirds are poised to undertake a busy January transfer window, which is of the utmost importance with Riza's side currently stuck fighting against the drop to English football's third-tier for the third time in just four years.

At the time of writing, Cardiff are placed 23rd in the Championship, although they're level on points with Portsmouth in 22nd.

The second-tier strugglers will be looking to maintain a relative upturn in form, which has seen them mount a three-match unbeaten run, at home to Watford next week, but a trip to Sheffield United in the third-round of the FA Cup first awaits on Thursday evening.

Omer Riza discusses Cardiff City's transfer interest in Peterborough United's Ricky-Jade Jones

Football League World first broke the news of Cardiff's interest in Jones' signature on Monday evening, revealing an initial enquiry had been lodged by the Welsh side.

FLW's exclusive was followed up with a report from WalesOnline's Glen Williams, which corroborated the interest but described a deal as "unlikely" at this stage.

However, Riza has now confirmed the club are looking to complete a deal for Jones, who has scored 25 goals across all competitions over the last season-and-a-half for League One outfit Peterborough.

The pacey forward, who can play either out wide or centrally, was reportedly of interest to Newcastle United in the summer and nearly joined the Blades too, with a move to the Steel City having fallen through due to the club's ongoing takeover at the time.

22-year-old Jones is out of contract at the end of the season, although Posh will be able to collect a not-insignificant, tribunal-determined compensation fee owing to his age.

Ahead of the side's trip to Bramall Lane, Riza told the press, in what was direct and unconventional for a professional manager in regards to another club's player: "There's been discussions regarding Ricky-Jade Jones and we will see how that progresses.

"I can't elaborate on deals or players coming in.

"At the moment, all we can say is that the discussions are taking place, obstacles are in the way which we've spoken about previously, which is whether players want to come to our club or whether we can afford to play for our club.

"Whether it's right for us to bring those players in and whether they'll be impactful.

"We have to make sure we get that right. But definitely the process has begun for three or four players to come in.

"There's a whole host of players we are looking at, in respect of pace in the top line, creativity and impact. He is one of a list of players we've spoken about.

"The conversations, I'm talking all the time.

"The list is there. Discussions regarding players is there. Now it's about waiting for the FA Cup to pass, because some clubs are looking to bring players in, especially in the Premier League, so they are waiting to get players, which then allows you to talk to them about players.

"So you are waiting past that game. Then the other players who could be potential transfers, we are talking about them and things are moving swiftly."

The 45-year-old is said to have played down links to young forwards Jayden Danns and Malcolm Ebiowei of Liverpool and Crystal Palace respectively, though supporters will hope to see Riza's pursuit of Jones materialise in the coming days and weeks.

Peterborough United's Ricky-Jade Jones would be a good signing for Cardiff City

Jones fits the bill of the profile in which Cardiff should be striving to recruit. The Bluebirds, who are short-staffed in both personnel and quality in wide and central forward areas, have suffered from a perennial lack of pace in the side.

However, Jones, who can run the 100m in 10.9 seconds and is widely regarded among the fastest players in world football, possesses frightening speed and would offer a fresh dynamic to an often-blunt-edged Cardiff attack accused of lacking invention and ideas along with urgency and directness.

His raw pace is something to behold and allows him to pin back opposition defenders, stretch backlines, get in behind and play a central role in transition.

Considering Cardiff have opted for a somewhat-more pragmatic and direct tactical approach in recent weeks, which has paid dividends, he fits the bill for the style of play but also represents the sustainable long-term signing which many supporters would like to see.

At 22, he's played an impressive amount of football already but still has his best years ahead of him, bringing real potential and likely resale value while also bringing the requisite attributes to have the sort of instant impact which Cardiff would ultimately demand as they bid to remain in the division this season.

Peterborough are known to drive a hard bargain, but their esteemed track record with developing EFL, and chiefly attacking talent, makes this an intriguing potential capture for Cardiff, who must bolster their attack this month and are certainly going down the right path in doing exactly that.