Cardiff City to suffer same fate as Leeds United with Man City swooping for player | OneFootball

Manchester City are set to sign Cardiff City youngster Timeo Whisker after agreeing a fee in the region of £250,000 for the winger.

Timeo Whisker to join Man City

The 15-year-old is extremely well thought of by the Bluebirds, having impressed for their academy with his pace and skill in the final third.

However, such form has put him on the radar of clubs in England, and the Athletic have revealed that the Premier League champions have seen off several rivals to finalise a deal with Cardiff for Whisker.

“Manchester City are set to beat a number of Premier League rivals to the signing of highly-rated Cardiff City prospect Timeo Whisker.

“The 15-year-old has excelled in Cardiff’s youth system — attracting interest from some of the country’s leading sides — and it is City who have pounced to win the race.

“Cardiff of the Championship have accepted an offer from their top-flight counterparts, worth around £250,000, and if all goes to plan, Whisker will undergo a medical before putting pen to paper on a schoolboy registration.”

Man City continue to target young players

This will be hugely frustrating for Cardiff City and their supporters, as all fans want to see lads progress from the academy and into the first-team.

It’s something the Bluebirds have done regularly over the years, with Aaron Ramsey the obvious success story, and whilst he would secure a big-money move to Arsenal, the club did get a significant sum, which isn’t the case here.

But, the rules are what they are, and until a professional deal is signed, all clubs are vulnerable to losing their best young players for a relatively modest sum, which is a shame.

From Whisper’s perspective, you can see why he wants to move to Manchester, as he is joining a club with arguably the best facilities and coaching setup in the country, and he will dream of forcing his way into the first-team in the years to come.

Cardiff aren’t the first Championship club to suffer from City poaching their best youngsters, as they recently concluded a deal to sign Finley Gorman from Leeds United.

The England youth international was playing several age groups higher than his age, outlining his talent, and the Whites had high hopes for Gorman. Yet, he also chose to join Man City, much to the frustration of the Yorkshire outfit.

Cardiff City are producing talent

However, it doesn’t all have to be negative, and the fact Man City are bringing Whisper in shows that Cardiff are doing a lot right when it comes to producing players.

Of course, you want them to play for the club in the future, but it’s a credit to the coaching team and the scouts that Cardiff are developing players that are catching the eye of arguably the best club in world football right now.

So, that’s something that they will want to continue to do, and they then need to show these players that there is a pathway to the first-team.

As well as that, promotion to the Premier League could allow for more investment to improve the academy, which may play a role in convincing youngsters to stick around.