Cardiff City midfielder Manolis Siopis is on the brink of sealing a permanent move back to Greece, with Super League giants Panathinaikos closing in on his signature, WalesOnline understands.

The Bluebirds moved heaven and earth to get the Greece international to Cardiff in the summer of 2024, a deal which effectively saw the player buy out his own contract at Trabzonspor to force a move to the Welsh capital and link up with his old Alanyaspor boss Erol Bulut.

However, it has not been a move which has panned out particularly well, with Siopis seemingly having struggled to adapt to the rigours of the Championship. That being said, he has put in some top performances of late. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

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The departure of Bulut back in September did throw up the conversation of whether Siopis, and indeed Dimitrios Goutas, would consequently seek moves elsewhere. Indeed, in November there were reports in Greece that he was seeking a return to his homeland.

Since then, Cardiff have signed Ajax's Sivert Mannsverk and have seen Calum Chambers blossom into a top operator in midfield at this level, meaning Siopis's game time would be greatly reduced moving forward. Plus, looking longer term, David Turnbull and Aaron Ramsey will come back from injury at some stage, while Joel Colwill will be more than ready for fight for a starting berth from next season.

It is understood that the 30-year-old is already in Greece having a medical, with a deal having been agreed with Cardiff for his exit.

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Siopis has been a regular for Cardiff, having played 64 times in total for the Bluebirds. However, given the financial outlay for the signing of Yousef Salech at the start of the window, balancing the books with the permanent sale of Siopis feels like sensible business.

The midfielder, who has 36 Greece caps to his name, is highly regarded in his homeland and has been keen to return there.