Cardiff City should consider plotting Alex Robertson repeat as Portsmouth, Brighton links emerge: View | OneFootball

Cardiff have already beaten Portsmouth to one highly-rated prospect this summer and could repeat their success by landing Amario Cozier-Duberry

Despite undertaking an encouraging summer transfer window, Cardiff City still find themselves in desperate need of additional attacking recruits, and may be well-served by repeating the much drawn-out Alex Robertson saga to land Brighton and Hove Albion's highly-rated prospect Amario Cozier-Duberry at the expense of Portsmouth.

Expectations are considerably higher in the Welsh capital this summer, and the pressure upon Erol Bulut to deliver success for the Bluebirds city has only heightened following a series of high-profile captures across the window.

Ex-Aston Villa duo Anwar El Ghazi and Calum Chambers both possess esteemed top-flight pedigree, Chris Willock brings exactly that in Championship terms, Will Fish and Robertson appear shrewd signings for the immediate and long-term while Jesper Daland and Wilfried Kanga have each built up a promising body of work in the Belgian First Division prior to their moves to South Wales.

With such big-name signings added to the nucleus of a solid second-tier squadron, it is only right for expectations to remain fairly significant, and the standards should not lessen following their sketchy start to the season.

Sunday afternoon's action-packed 1-1 draw in the South Wales Derby away at fierce rivals Swansea City has somewhat softened the blow from consecutive heavy defeats against both Sunderland and Burnley, but question marks remain over Cardiff's attacking impetus and consistent shortcomings from the previous campaign have been carried over to the current.

Those who have watched Cardiff even fleetingly will point to a blunt-edged, often-purposeless forward threat, devoid of any real thrust, intention, invention or dynamism.

Bulut himself has little hiding place, now free of a transfer embargo and with the financial backing of the club's top-brass, and will need to further rectify such issues over the coming days.

Therefore, that is exactly why Cardiff would benefit from launching their second south coast hijack with a replication of their success in winning the race for Robertson from Manchester City.

The Cardiff City, Portsmouth and Alex Robertson transfer saga

Cardiff were always going to be in the market for a midfielder this summer, which came as little surprise in consideration of their failure to control the tempo of matches and prevent themselves from being played through centrally last time out.

That led them to engage in an extensive transfer tug-of-war for Robertson, who had emerged as a hot property in the Championship following an impressive loan spell in Portsmouth's title-winning League One campaign.

Cardiff's interest in Robertson was first officially called by WalesOnline's Bluebirds correspondent Glen Williams in mid-July, with the reporter confirming the Australia international had been part of a three-man midfield shortlist amid significant interest in brokering a return from Portsmouth's end.

Having also beaten off competition from Hull City, Cardiff eventually won the race by reportedly paying an initial £1m outlay and tying Robertson down to a four-year contract.

The total fee, however, could treble to £3m while Man City have a 25% sell-on clause for the Australian international.

Portsmouth were simply unable to compete with the Bluebirds in the end, despite trying everything within their realistic power to bring the talented midfielder back to Fratton Park.

Pompey boss John Mousinho explained to The News:

"The only thing I’d say about Alex, in terms of where we are as a football club and what we could do, is we did everything we could.

"We pushed it as far as we could push it, so I’m sitting here now completely satisfied with everything we’ve done on the club side to do it - and we had the full backing of the owners to do that.

"It’s territory I’ve never experienced in my time as a head coach, certainly some of the figures and numbers we’re talking about.

"That’s something which is an obvious and natural thing to happen when you go into the Championship, but I’m really happy with everything we’ve done there and I have no complaints about that.

"Players will choose other clubs and that’s just part of life - it’s something you have to live with."

Cardiff City should perform Alex Robertson, Portsmouth repeat by sealing Amario Cozier-Duberry deal

According to The News, Portsmouth have registered an interest in striking a loan swoop for Brighton's highly-rated prospect Cozier-Duberry, who recently joined the Seagulls on a four-year contract after rejecting the offer of new terms with Arsenal.

Cozier-Duberry was among the most exciting young talents within the North London club's prestigious youth system, earning comparisons to Gunners star Bukayo Saka and routinely impressing for both club and country at age-group level.

Though most at home on the right-hand side, the 19-year-old is two-footed and can operate effectively on either flank just like Saka himself.

Comfortable cutting inside on his left foot, Cozier-Duberry is dynamic, direct, inventive and accompanies his efficiency in 1v1 situations with a genuine goal threat.

The Bluebirds' wide play has lacked many of those fundamental attributes in recent years and while it will be hoped they can be addressed by Willock and El Ghazi in due course, the duo cannot carry the burden alone over the unforgiving, toiling marathon that is a 46-game Championship campaign.

Cardiff do have Yakou Meite and Ollie Tanner as existing wide options on the right flank, the latter of whom came off the bench to enact a rendition of deja vu by turning Sunday's South Wales Derby on its head and playing the assist for Callum Robinson's late equaliser in SA1.

Best utilised as impact player, Tanner offers attacking bravery, confidence, directness and speed up and down the right side but is not quite there yet when it comes to his final ball.

Cardiff do need an alternative option in that area of the pitch more refined and capable of coming inside, and Cozier-Duberry appears to be an appealing candidate.

There are two crucial factors that would strengthen Cardiff's theoretical hand in landing the teenage prodigy. Firstly - and most importantly, given the direct relevance - they have already been deemed as a more attractive destination than Portsmouth.

Pompey have their own pull factor as a club with a rich history, a loyal fanbase who often act as the proverbial "12th man" and, of course, a sustainable and progressive model headed by impressive young coach Mousinho, though while the financial factors did work to their disadvantage, Robertson was also allured by Cardiff's project - as many players rightly or wrongly seem to be.

Secondly, you would be hard-pressed to find too many clubs in English football's second-tier to have built up a finer body of work when it comes to the development of loan players from the Premier League than Cardiff in recent times.

Recent times have not been all that warm for the Bluebirds, with two of the previous three seasons being marked by battles against relegation to League One, but the accomodation, progression and influence of top-flight loan prospects remained a real constant.

Jaden Philogene now bears every chance of lighting up the Premier League and making a name for himself in the UEFA Champions League with Aston Villa, and Cardiff deserve their fair share of the flowers following his dazzling loan stay in Wales during the 2022/23 season.

They had Alfie Doughty, Tommy Doyle and Cody Drameh on loan for the second half of the year before that. Both Ryan Giles and Harry Wilson previously enjoyed productive loan campaigns at Cardiff too, with the Bluebirds having developed tangible relationships with elite Premier League clubs after showcasing an impressive ability to nurture and cultivate some of the finest young talent from top sides.

Brighton, then, could quite reasonably look through Cardiff's recent loan history and deem them the ideal destination for Cozier-Duberry's immediate development.

The winger could well challenge for contention in Brighton's first-team this season but a loan exit does feel the likely call of duty for the time being, and Cardiff should take advantage of that and optimise the aforementioned factors to give themselves the best chance of landing one of the most impressive teenage attackers in the country.

He ticks all the boxes and Cardiff themselves tick many that clubs look to when assessing the short-term destinations for their prized prospects who need a move elsewhere.

Portsmouth have plenty going for them and it would not be a shock to see more Championship suitors line up for Cozier-Duberry in the coming days, but you would like to think the Bluebirds would be well-placed to land him in the event of lodging a formal approach and, in light of their present struggles for creativity and goals from wide areas in particular, failing to do so could prove a real source of regret.