Exciting Chelsea prodigy should be among those on Cardiff CIty's transfer shortlist right now | OneFootball

FLW runs the rule over three players who really should be on Cardiff City's shortlist ahead of the January transfer window

The summer transfer window yielded a mixed bag for Cardiff City, who will surely be looking to go again and get it right when January rolls around following a poor start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

Erol Bulut elected to lure a host of high-profile names to the Cardiff City Stadium across the course of the summer window, with the likes of Anwar El Ghazi, Calum Chambers and Chris Willock accumulating for three of the club's eight signings.

The early evidence, however, suggests that Cardiff's younger and refreshingly progressive purchases such as Alex Robertson and Jesper Daland are poised to represent greater transfer success. Only time will tell on that front, of course.

Nonetheless, Cardiff failed to address a range of glaring deficiencies in the summer, having assembled an individually-talented squad of players with overarching similarities with a collective shortage of speed, directness and goalscoring threat.

Mistakes have been made, then, but the January transfer window offers the opportunity for redemption by default. With that in mind, Football League World has plucked three players who Cardiff should be targeting already ahead of a move following the turn of the year.

Deivid Washington

Getting the ball rolling is exciting Chelsea prodigy Deivid Washington, who could well be sent out on loan to earn his stripes away from Stamford Bridge in January.

The 19-year-old, who was signed from Santos for a reported £17.2 million fee last year, would represent the calibre of arrival to make rivals across the Championship sit up and take notice.

Precociously talented, Washington has been hailed among the most exciting young talents to emerge from Brazil in recent years and will surely be looking for senior opportunities to help vindicate his undoubted potential.

Indeed, Washington was believed to be of interest to Hull City during the dying embers of the summer window, but a move ultimately failed to materialise. He has, however, found regular opportunities extremely hard to come by in a Chelsea side which has been stockpiled to the nth degree with young talent, making just three appearances last season.

The teenage striker has instead spent the majority of his time in West London turning out at age-group level. Washington is classes above the academy game, though, having scored 12 goals and made a further seven assists from just 21 appearances for Chelsea's U21 side.

Cardiff, meanwhile, would doubtless benefit from increased impetus at the top-end of the pitch. Callum Robinson has led the line admirably when called upon and is a dependable option at this level, though Wilfried Kanga, who was Cardiff's sole loan signing in the summer, is already widely deemed to be a bust by supporters following a disappointing start.

Also, Kion Etete and Isaak Davies, the former of whom was primed to be the Bluebirds' starting striker this term, are both currently sidelined with long-term injuries, and Roko Simic is out on loan at KV Kortrijk.

Cardiff can recall Simic in January, and they will be closely monitoring developments in the Belgian top-flight, and if they opt against summoning the Croat back to South Wales, then Washington could be a tantalising option to pursue.

Kwame Poku

Moving on, Peterborough United dynamo Kwame Poku is sure to be one of the hottest properties across the EFL market come January, and it would represent a significant statement of intent if Cardiff were able to pull this one-off.

His name has been touted by supporters for quite some time, who are desperate to see a right-sided winger with real speed, directness and confidence standing up an opposing full-back. Cardiff arguably have not had such a profile since Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who left the club no less than four years ago now, but Poku would tick all the boxes - and then some.

The 23-year-old winger is currently leading the goalscoring charts in League One with six strikes to his name after eleven outings, while his quick and tricky feet, creativity and flair render him an even more dangerous proposition who would offer fresh qualities to an often dysfunctional frontline at Cardiff.

Ex-Aston Villa winger El Ghazi is still yet to get going following his arrival, though latitude is needed for a player who had not played for close to twelve months before joining, whereas Ollie Tanner is growing in confidence as of late but remains somewhat rough around the edges and needs to be handled with care.

Poku would be an instant game-changer in this Cardiff side. Creative and intelligent with dazzling one-v-one qualities, speed to burn and a genuine goalscoring threat to boot, he would represent the perfect signing.

The former Colchester United winger is sure to attract bags of interest throughout the Championship in January, though. According to a previous report from TEAMtalk, Poku was being eyed by a number of Championship clubs last November, including Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Ipswich Town, Millwall and Bristol City were all monitoring Poku, following a stunning start to the 2023/24 season in League One.

Poku ended up staying put at Peterborough, finishing last season with 11 goals and seven assists from league action as his side fell short in the play-offs. However, there is growing uncertainty surrounding his future with Posh.

He now has less than twelve months to run on his contract at the club and, at present, there is little indication of renewal. In May, it was reported by the Peterborough Telegraph that an "improved contract" had been offered to Poku, although he is yet to accept the proposal and many clubs throughout the Championship will surely be following developments.

Peterborough would surely part ways with Poku and reluctantly collect a fairly-sizable transfer fee in order to prevent his departure as a free agent, even if they would be entitled to compensation due to his age.

There are plenty of moving parts right now, and much would depend on Cardiff's league position come January, the calibre of their potential competitors in the race for his signature and whether Poku himself decides to put his signature on Posh paper or not.

But, make no mistake about it, this is a transfer they should be exploring with intent at the very least.

Harvey Vale

Cardiff could do considerably worse than conducting something of a raid on Cobham, with Harvey Vale representing yet another punt-worthy, talented youngster in the Blues camp.

In contrast to the aforementioned Washington, 21-year-old Vale possesses tangible experience in the senior domestic game after enjoying an impressive breakthrough campaign on loan with Bristol Rovers last season.

Vale, who was named as Chelsea's Academy Player of the Season in 2022, showed what the hype was all about as he stood out at League One level. Having primarily made his name as a tricky goalscoring winger, Vale was deployed as an all-action left-sided wing-back with the Gas, where he offered a dynamic and attacking presence in the final third.

It was something of a surprise when Vale stayed put at Chelsea over the summer, with many having felt he was poised to step up to the Championship after making such a strong impression with Rovers in the third-tier.

Like Washington, he has had to stick it out with the Blues' young guns at under-21 level, but Cardiff should be looking to change that before long. Vale would be an extremely sensible signing - especially on a permanent basis, if that proves a possibility - and his energy, dynamism, creativity and versatility would all be much-welcomed in the Welsh capital.

This season, Cardiff are lacking all of those attributes in abundance in wide areas. Academy product Joel Bagan has stepped up as of late and offers a defensively-sound option at left-back, although he still lacks the thrust and forward initiative which would see a player like Vale potentially light up the Championship.

Cardiff's perennial goalscoring woes are a partial byproduct of a shortage of invention and directness from the flanks, and you would imagine that Vale would go some way to upping the output.

Capable of playing anywhere down the left-hand side, too, he could fill in as a winger, play in a back four or, preferably for the player in question at least, operate in a wing-back role, allowing Cardiff to play with five at the back without sacrificing considerable attacking intention in the process.

Truth be told, Vale quite possibly makes for the smartest signing of the three listed here. He will surely have EFL interest come January, almost certainly from the Championship, and Cardiff need to force their way forward in the probable queue for his services.