Cardiff City's 3 most underwhelming signings from the last 10 years - Where are they now? | OneFootball

Cardiff City's 3 most underwhelming signings from the last 10 years - Where are they now? | OneFootball

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·28 May 2023

Cardiff City's 3 most underwhelming signings from the last 10 years - Where are they now?

Article image:Cardiff City's 3 most underwhelming signings from the last 10 years - Where are they now?

It is well and truly back to the drawing board for Cardiff City this summer.

With the club narrowly avoiding relegation to League One, they really must improve for next season.


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To the surprise of some, they opted to part ways with Sabri Lamouchi at the end of the campaign, so their first port of call is to find a new boss.

After they have done that, no doubt a busy summer lies ahead, with recruitment essential if they want to avoid yet another relegation battle next season.

Of course, they must be clever in the market, though.

As we have seen with the Bluebirds previously, simply splashing the cash does not necessarily equal a player that is going to deliver for the football club.

With that in mind, below, we've discussed three Cardiff City signings in the last ten years that underwhelmed.

What's Bobby Decordova-Reid doing now?

One underwhelming player to join Cardiff in the last decade has to be Bobby Decordova-Reid.

reported fee of £10 million ahead of their Premier League campaign in 2018/19.

The reason this one underwhelmed was because that fee made him one of the club's most expensive signings ever, and not only did he fail to live up to that in his first season, the next summer, he was gone.

Initially joining Fulham on loan, the midfielder soon made his switch to Craven Cottage permanent, and so his time at the club was over.

Although they recouped their money largely, £10 million spent on a player who made just 30 appearances is certainly underwhelming.

Andreas Cornelius

Another Bluebirds signing from the last decade to underwhelm was Andreas Cornelius.

The Danish forward arrived in the summer of 2013, with Cardiff in the Premier League.

The then 20-year-old was coming off the back of a hot season in Denmark, where he scored 20 goals in all competitions, and registered six assists.

Despite signing for a reported club record fee of £7.5 million, Cornelius went on to play just 11 times before being sold back to FC Kobenhavn just a few months later.

The Danish forward never even found the net at the club, although that isn't too hard to believe given he only played 255 minutes of action, according to Transfermarkt - the equivalent of less than three full 90 minute matches.

Was Adam Le Fondre underwhelming at Cardiff?

Although the same sort of fee was not involved, another player to underwhelm at Cardiff City is Adam Le Fondre.

Le Fondre joined the Bluebirds in 2014, on the back of two seasons where he had hit double figures for goals - one of which was in the Premier League.

He scored just three goals for the club in his 25 appearances though, before being loaned out just months after his arrival to Bolton Wanderers.

Le Fondre never went on to play for the Bluebirds again, eventually leaving the club on a free transfer in 2017.

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