Cardiff City should be monitoring Ryan Kent transfer situation with serious intent: View | OneFootball

Cardiff could pull off a masterstroke this summer by capitalising upon a fraught Fenerbache situation

Cardiff City broke free from two perilous previous seasons spent battling against relegation to League One by achieving a respectable 12th-placed finish under Erol Bulut in the 2023/24 campaign.

While an exciting summer window set the precursor for some swashbuckling early-season displays that served to invite whispers across the Welsh capital of an ambitious assault on the play-off positions, Cardiff's middle-of-the-pack position come May was a more fitting reflection of the steady progression implemented by Bulut following his arrival.

The Bluebirds claimed victory on 19 occasions last term, with unsuccessful play-off contestants West Bromwich Albion and Norwich both only accuring two more. Context is crucial, though, and the critics will rightly make reference to Cardiff's astonishingly-high 22 losses, a record which marked them as the third-most beaten league side ahead of 23rd-placed Huddersfield Town.

They also conceded 70 goals - a higher figure than what was returned from league finishes in 18th and 21st position in the two seasons beforehand, letting in an average of 1.5 goals per game and conceding a higher xG than relegated duo Birmingham City and Huddersfield with 71.0.

Such concerns are equally, if not more prominently shared regarding their goalscoring woes, which can fairly be attributed to the deficit of attacking patterns and approaches, the lack of a prolific Championship striker and, in turn, the lack of service provided from both midfield and wide areas. In reality, the problem encompasses all three caveats to varying degrees of extent.

That said, the numbers make for bleak reading and amplify the necessity of remedy. Indeed, the school of thought is strongly held in some quarters that Cardiff's league position papered over some real cracks last year, and that view bears value when you consider that they scored just 25 times from open play. Rotherham United, who only won five times and finished with 27 points, scored 26.

Admittedly, Cardiff's 20 goals via set-piece situations is a rendered improvement on a previous shortcoming, but the reliance of dead-ball scenarios and the inability to consistently conjure up an alternative attacking potency is symptomatic of the overarching issue at hand, which they must solve to build upon the foundations put into place last season.

The detriments borne from Cardiff's dearth of creativity and invention were harshly-felt on many occasions, and although it's just as important that Bulut incorporates the fluid, front-footed attacking approach that supporters are clamouring for - and sources a striker or two for good measure - supplementing the squad with players who can, quite simply, change the dynamic of a football match, presents a strong starting point.

Cardiff, then, could be extremely well-served by initiating their squad surgery with the ambitious addition of Fenerbache's Ryan Kent, and if not already, they may live to regret not paying close attention to his current state of play.

Former Rangers star Ryan Kent set for Fenerbache transfer exit

The Liverpool academy graduate, who was reportedly on Cardiff's January transfer shortlist, has endured a torrid time since leaving Rangers as a free agent to join Turkish giants Fenerbache last summer. Kent started just once in the league in 2023/24 and, rather unsurprisingly, looks set to face the axe in Istanbul twelve months on from his arrival.

Meanwhile, Bulut, who himself managed Fenerbache among other clubs in Turkey, reacted to rumours linking Kent to Cardiff in the January window and expressed a glowing verdict that supporters will hope can be followed up in the coming weeks.

"From my side it would be no problem, but I know he has some other offers,"Bulut said of Kent at the time.

"I hear Sheffield United are interested in him, so then we don’t need to continue to speak about it because we cannot make (the deal) done when a Premier League club is chasing him, or another club where he can get more, or the deal can go quicker than what we would have to do.

"But if we could have the possibility, you can be sure (we) will go for it."

City may just have that possibility now. It's hoped that they won't encounter the same degree of difficulty with staying on the right side of the EFL's Profit and Sustainability rules as they did in January and reports have already claimed that Kent is the subject of transfer interest from two undisclosed Championship clubs. Cardiff themselves are said to be monitoring a "number one choice" winger that would reportedly represent a more ambitious capture than Karlan Grant, a previous £15m signing for then-Premier League outfit West Bromwich Albion with two separate 19-goal Championship campaigns who impressed on loan with the Bluebirds last season.

When it comes to Kent, meanwhile, this isn't a scheme of 'connect-the-dots'. After all, there is no publicly-disclosed reveal that he remains on Cardiff's shortlist, at least not yet anyway. He may well be a target once again and that, it must be said, wouldn't come as much of a shock. But if he isn't, it's about time that he becomes one.

Signing Ryan Kent from Fenerbache would show Cardiff City's ambition

The transfer market has been a crash course for Cardiff over the years, but in the last twelve months it's hard to deny that they've made some real 'statement signings'. Launching a sensational homecoming for Cardiff's prodigal son Aaron Ramsey is the outstanding one of that under Bulut's reign, while you shouldn't forget that Manolis Siopis also forked out some eye-watering sums from his own back pocket to cancel his contract with seven-time Super Lig champions Trabzonspor and join Bulut the previous summer.

The moral of the story is Bulut is an incredibly ambitious manager who players simply want to play under. Time will tell if Kent does too, but he desperately needs a new lease of life and Cardiff can most certainly accommodate that. His troubled tenure with Fenerbache does conjure some concerns, but for some anyway, they can be alleviated when history enters the memory and five seasons at Ibrox are remembered.

Beneath the face-value numbers, you've got a player who, at his best, possesses almost everything that some of Cardiff's wide men haven't in years gone by. Kent is blisteringly quick off the mark and can give his team an immediate and crucial impact in stretching play, putting opponents on the back foot and getting up the pitch.

Slow and static attacking transitions have been an unfortunate hallmark of Cardiff's forward play not only under Bulut but perhaps every manager who has succeeded Neil Warnock, and Kent provides a great opportunity of making them genuinely dangerous in counter-attacking situations. With that comes terrific trickery and quality in 1v1 scenarios too, which was expected from last season's Nottingham Forest loanee Josh Bowler but rarely arrived.

The lack of invention from out wide is actually rather understated when it comes to addressing Cardiff's shortcomings and Kent has accumulated a body of work that bears every indication of being able to supplement what they've been lacking; speed, creativity and flair. The drawback with Kent does pertain to his end product which, while far from poor, is not convincing in quite the same way as Grant's was (barring 2022/23) before joining Cardiff, and he only managed six league goals in blue.

What you attribute that to is open to interpretation, as are Kent's direct numbers. Reaching double-digits for assists is mightily-impressive, his goal return perhaps less so, but Jaden Philogene scored just four times in the Championship and is quite possibly the most naturally talented player to play for Cardiff in many a year.

Should Cardiff decide to pursue and successfully sign Kent, sourcing a winger on the opposite side who can deliver more goal-getting guarantees will be pivotal for the purpose of balance, but he surely fulfills much of what they've been lacking. Last season, Bowler often looked panicked when attempting to take on a man; Grant was more successful and and offered plenty in the way of dynamic, dogged work-ethic and positional diligence, but rarely felt a 1v1 expert either. Kent, however, is just that.

Kent wouldn't address all of Cardiff's nagging issues on his own and the murmurs of skepticism are not entirely unjustified either. He'll be turning 28 in November, would likely demand a significant salary and arguably hasn't had a career befitting of his match-winning, X-Factor star quality due to the all-too-familiar pitfall of inconsistency.

But every so often, managers are faced with the ultimatum of risk versus reward. What outstrips the other? Signing Kent would be very high-risk but very high-reward. All things considered, it's a risk they should be looking to take.