Cardiff City set to beat Swansea and Birmingham in Nottingham Forest transfer race | OneFootball

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In years gone by, Cardiff City have been underlined by instability and sharp regression, having battled off the eerie threat of relegation to the third-tier of English football for the last two years now.

But that said, there is more than a mere twinkle of optimism within the Welsh capital, and the club have made a host of exciting captures this summer to renew the interest and excitement from supporters.

Aaron Ramsey's homecoming served as a clear signal of the Bluebirds' upward ambitions once again, while picking up the likes of Ike Ugbo, Yakou Meite, Karlan Grant and Josh Bowler- the latter three all with prior credit in the bank at this level- represents positive business that has already seen the side emerge as a more fluid and potent attacking outlet.

Elsewhere, Cardiff have scoured the continent and have made the promising managerial appointment of Erol Bulut, who has tapped into his connections to bring two players of familiarity from his time coaching in Turkey in the form of Dimitros Goutas and Manolis Siopis.

The duo have both caught the eye thus far, while the jury remains out on loanee shot-stopper Runar Alex Runarsson from Arsenal, although he was impressive during their recent EFL Cup advancement away at Birmingham City.

Cardiff City beat off Championship transfer interest for Jonathan Panzo

Cardiff have been long-term admirers of Panzo and have finally brokered a deal to bring him on loan from Nottingham Forest to South Wales, as per WalesOnline.

Journalist Darren Witcoop had confidence in the deal going through yesterday amid reported interest from Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion and even bitter adversaries Swansea City, whom the Bluebirds had appeared to be directly tussling with in the closing stages of the saga.

A separate report from Football Insider

Panzo is said to have engaged in advanced talks with Cardiff, ones which are believed to have left him very impressed by the vision shown from Bulut and gave them the edge over their Welsh rivals.

Will Jonathan Panzo be a good signing for Cardiff City?

Panzo resembles exactly the profile that will befit Bulut's philosophy moving forward, with a newfound reliance on defenders being calm and composed with the ball at their feet and capable of starting play from the back quickly emerging as hallmarks in his possession-emphasised modus operandi.

Of course, these modern-day qualities are stamps of his game, developed through an illustrious football education with Chelsea and England at age-group level.

They also came to the fore last term when Panzo, who is all the rave as a left-footed central defender, was on loan at Coventry City and promptly featured on 29 occasions for Mark Robins' play-off finalists.

Defensively assured too, Panzo can naturally be expected to slot straight into Cardiff's new-look defence and, make no illusions of it, he will take some shifting.