Cardiff City must avoid repeat of Erol Bulut blunder - they never saw what Bristol City did | OneFootball

Erol Bulut got it all wrong with signing Famara Diedhiou, and Cardiff City must learn from that mistake as the stakes are now higher

Cardiff City supporters were left with a tinge of disappointment when Erol Bulut signed Famara Diedhiou in January 2024; their pessimism was swiftly vindicated, and the stakes are now simply far too high for such a deal to be repeated nearly twelve months on.

During the first-half of the 2023/24 Championship campaign, Cardiff found themselves in urgent need of fresh striking options. Loanee Ike Ugbo had burned brightly before fading away as he was subsequently recalled by French side Troyes before heading up to join Sheffield Wednesday, while both Kion Etete and Callum Robinson struggled for form and fitness.

Their pronounced attempts to strike a reunion with Kieffer Moore eventually fell dearly short, too, as the Welsh international shattered hearts by joining Ipswich Town on loan for Bournemouth. It was a state of mild desperation, truth be told, and that was evidenced when they moved for Diedhiou in the closing stages of the window.

Akin to Moore, Diedhiou had a commendable track record at Championship level. But unlike the fellow ex-Bluebird, he was well past his best and Cardiff found that out all-too-quickly.

Famara Diedhiou was a poor signing for Erol Bulut

Cardiff never saw Bristol City exploits

There was an understandable and palpable degree of skepticism expressed when Cardiff completed the signing of Diedhiou, who arrived on loan from Granada with just days to run of the winter window.

The Senegalese international striker had scored just once from 19 matches in the year he spent in Granada's first-team, having sealed an ill-fated switch to Spanish football following a productive single season spent with Super Lig side Alanyaspor.

It already felt rather apparent that the spark continually exhibited during his goalscoring days across the River Severn with fierce rivals Bristol City had long gone out. Unfortunately for all involved, Diedhiou's initial doubters were soon proved right.

Six largely unconvincing displays were required before Diedhiou managed to open his account, scoring the only goal in a narrow 1-0 home victory over Huddersfield Town in March. The same number of matches were then played out before Diedhou netted his second and final Cardiff goal, and in similar fashion too, to spark a dramatic late comeback win against Southampton at home shortly after coming on as a substitute.

Diedhiou did leave Cardiff with more than one goal under his belt, which, rather tellingly, cannot be said for more former strikers than they'd like in years gone by. However, he came nowhere close to offering the focal point and consistent source of goals which he had done with the Robins, and which Cardiff sorely needed in order to push higher up the table that year.

The former Angers frontman provided little of note away from goalscoring, the rate of which simply wasn't frequent enough to adequately compensate for the wider deficiencies. It was a far cry from his time at Ashton Gate, where he had been prolific in the Championship between 2017 and 2021.

Renowned for being a powerful target man capable of scoring prolifically and causing continual problems with his aerial and physical presence, Diedhiou scored 46 Championship goals for the Robins across four seasons and never hit less than ten in all competitions.

But Cardiff just never saw that sort of form, which only added to the frustration.

Cardiff City cannot allow repeat

Famara Diedhiou deal in January not a good blueprint

Diedhiou flopped for Cardiff, although they were mid-table at the time with scarce realistic hope of finishing inside the top-six, while also being comfortably clear of any relegation trouble.

Thankfully, the stakes were not all that high last time out, but this time around, the state of play marks a huge contrast for the worse and Cardiff cannot afford any kind of repeat as they prepare for yet another date with déjà vu in their continued cry for a striker.

They seemingly find themselves in the same predicament every season - the aforementioned Moore is the only striker to have hit double digits for league goals in a single campaign, after all - but the cost of failing to amply address the perennial problem could be devastating, and the desperation feels more palpable than in previous years.

Make no bones about it, Cardiff are in a relegation dogfight this term and, at present, their chances of getting out of it aren't exactly favourable. After last season's 12th-placed finish, few could've anticipated Cardiff returning quite so low to their third relegation battle in four years, although they frustratingly neglected to sign a high-end striker during the summer and the options are thin on the ground heading into the new year.

Robinson has led the line under Omer Riza this term and appears to be Cardiff's sole semi-consistent source of goals, yet his injury record amplifies the need for reinforcements, while Isaak Davies and Kion Etete are both yet to play this season after suffering long-term setbacks in pre-season.

Then you've got Wilfried Kanga, the one striker Cardiff decided to sign for this current campaign by striking a loan agreement with Hertha Berlin.

But the Ivorian looks set to head back over to Germany prematurely. A termination of his loan would make sense for all parties, as Kanga is yet to score a single goal for Cardiff and is very much on the fringes under Riza, who hasn't preferred him to Robinson in the way that Bulut did - for one reason or another.

It's imperative for Cardiff to finally nail it in the January window and add another goalscoring striker to their ranks. Indeed, it could just dictate which league they're playing in come August, so there is no margin for error, and they'll give themselves a better chance at potential success by avoiding a similar deal to the one they brokered to take Diedhiou to the Welsh capital for five months.