Cardiff City will hope for Man City, Leeds United repeat with Leicester City transfer agreement | OneFootball

Cardiff City will hope Will Alves can replicate previously-successful mid-season loan deals

Cardiff City finally returned to the Premier League loan market in the winter transfer window by landing a late deal for Leicester City's Will Alves, who they will hope can emulate the impacts of Tommy Doyle and Cody Drameh.

The Bluebirds have enjoyed varying degrees of success with the litany of loan moves they have pulled off in recent years. For every Jaden Philogene, of course, there is a Jonathan Panzo, and a Wilfried Kanga for every Harry Wilson. That is the very nature of the beast.

But, that said, Cardiff have had some undoubted loan successes and two of the most notable both still live in the memory after having an instant mid-season impact in the 2021/22 campaign.

Tommy Doyle and Cody Drameh were sensational on loan at Cardiff City

Cardiff have spent three of the last four Championship seasons battling against the threat of relegation to League One, the first of which came in the 2021/22 term as they were left at the wrong end of the table after Mick McCarthy's infamous eight-game losing run - which naturally ended his tenure, of course.

Rookie boss Steve Morison was left to pick up the pieces but did enough to earn himself a deal until the end of the season, and then until the summer of 2023, although the ex-Millwall frontman failed to see out that contract. Nonetheless, he placed a real emphasis on quick fixes in the January transfer window by making five loan signings - Cardiff had made just one in the summer under McCarthy in Ryan Giles, who was recalled by Wolves to the Bluebirds' detriment.

Doyle and Drameh, who joined from Manchester City and Leeds United respectively, were joined by Alfie Doughty, Jordan Hugill and Uche Ikpeazu. But it was undoubtedly the young duo who made the biggest impact.

Doyle had endured a miserable loan spell with Hamburg before joining Cardiff but instantly forced his way into City's midfield and set the tone for the remainder of the campaign.

The ex-England youth international star was cool and class personified, with his top-drawer passing range and awareness showing all the evidence of a footballing education at Man City while enabling Cardiff to have a degree of control in the middle of the park, along with adding two goals and three assists from 17 appearances.

Indeed, Cardiff perhaps had not quite replaced the now-Wolves man until they signed another young, gifted midfielder from Pep Guardiola's side last summer in Alex Robertson, who has proved a sensational pick-up to date.

Meanwhile, Drameh was also hugely successful in his half-season stay in the Welsh capital.

The attack-minded full-back offered much-needed width and dynamism down Cardiff's right flank, often leading the side in transition and running forward at opposition defenders with real pace before getting back and putting in crunching tackles.

Drameh's all-action nature endeared him to supporters rather quickly and gave Cardiff real aid at both ends of the pitch.

The Leeds loanee was spectacular, all things considered, and that's exactly why he ended up scooping both the club's Young Player of the Year and Player of the Year awards despite only spending a matter of months in South Wales.

Cardiff City will hope Leicester City's Will Alves can repeat Tommy Doyle, Cody Drameh impact

Neither Doyle nor Drameh had played much first-team football before joining the Bluebirds and that's all-too-similar to Alves' situation, with the 19-year-old winger having tallied up just five appearances for Leicester prior to his switch in the closing stages of the winter window.

He has arrived with a similarly-impressive reputation, though, and Cardiff will now hope he can offer the same level of impact. They both came in and instantly earmarked themselves as the first names on the team sheet, pretty much, taking precious little time to acclimate to the demands of second-tier football.

Cardiff's attack needs fresh impetus and initiative, and it will be hoped that Alves can have a game-changing influence.