Cardiff City set for transfer battle with Sheffield United for Leicester City player | OneFootball

Leicester City's rebuild following their relegation from the Premier League has seen a number of experienced players fall by the wayside at the King Power Stadium - ones who are either getting limited minutes or are not being seen at all.

And when the Foxes landed Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen from Brondby in the summer, the writing was somewhat on the wall for Danny Ward's future at the East Midlands outfit.

Hermansen was immediately installed as first-choice by Maresca, and that relegated the experienced Ward to joint third-choice with Daniel Iversen, with even the untested Jakub Stolarczyk ahead of them in the pecking order.

Ward played 26 times in the Premier League for Leicester last season and was the favoured choice of Brendan Rodgers in-between the sticks, but not long before the Northern Irishman was sacked as manager last year, Ward was dropped for Iversen and he has never regained his place in the starting 11.

The 30-year-old has not made a single appearance in any competition so far in 2023-24, and he still has a year-and-a-half left to run on the contract extension that he signed in 2021 - the Wales international though could be set for a lifeline with two clubs interested in signing him.

Cardiff City want Ward but face Sheffield United competition

The Sun's Alan Nixon has reported via his Patreon account that Ward is wanted by two clubs in the January transfer window, and one of those is Cardiff City.

The Bluebirds are keen to loan Ward in for the second half of the season and bring him back to his home country, with regular first-team football potentially going some way for the ex-Liverpool man to secure his spot in the Wales starting 11 at EURO 2024 if they make it.

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut already added a loan goalkeeper in the summer in the form of Arsenal's Runar Alex Runarsson, but the Icelandic stopper has disappointed and he could be sent back to the Emirates Stadium if City can land a replacement.

The favourites to sign Ward though are top flight strugglers Sheffield United, with Chris Wilder looking to replace Wes Foderingham at Bramall Lane.

Nixon claims that the Blades have already contacted Leicester about a deal for Ward, and they are keen to either sell their out of favour stopper or loan him out with an obligation to buy.

If Premier League football is on the table for Ward - even for a few months - then he's likely going to take it.

Wes Foderingham hasn't been impressive this season for United and it's no real surprise that Wilder is looking at other options, and whilst Ward will be a bit rusty having not played in 2023-24 yet, he's still got plenty of experience.

Cardiff will probably be hoping that Sheffield United's interest cools, but they do perhaps need an improvement on Runarsson, who has failed to impress the fans in the Welsh capital since his arrival.

The Bluebirds' recruitment team must have some alternative options on their mind if Ward does head to Bramall Lane, but they should be making a big push for his services at the same time.