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Seven Cardiff City players facing January exits as major window looms
Once again, Cardiff City find themselves heading towards a January transfer window which could likely define their season.
After a frustrating and mixed summer transfer window, the Bluebirds' squad is in need of more surgery in the new year. But with City having filled all 25 slots in their EFL squad, players will have to leave before replacements are sought.
While some might have to leave in order to make room, others need game-time after struggling to get on the pitch in the first half of the season.
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Quite how the window will go still remains a bit of a mystery, at least until the situation pertaining to Omer Riza and Erol Bulut's permanent successor is resolved, but either way there is an acceptance that the upcoming window is a crucial one. Here, we look at those who could be the subject of discussions in the boardroom with regards to heading out the exit door in January
Wilfried Kanga
This name will come as no surprise. No-one wants to write a player off, but after being given more than enough chances, the Ivorian has just not shown enough.
Not only has he failed to score in any of his 14 appearances for the Bluebirds, but he has not contributed in other aspects, either. He has struggled in the air, failing to adapt to the physicality of the Championship, while his link-up play also needs improving.
There's no doubt there is a striker here capable of scoring goals, but in this team, in this league, it just doesn't look likely. The 26-year-old is on loan from Hertha BSC and the option of a recall is surely being explored.
Yakou Meite
On his day, the forward is a strong, powerful presence at the top end of the pitch. That day has been all too rare in his 18 months as a Bluebird, though.
The sight of a full-tilt Meite running at you is a frightening thought for many centre-backs, but his end product has shown no signs of rekindling the form he showed at his former club, Reading.
Granted, he offers far more than Kanga, he can be abrasive and combative in aerial duels, while he can hold the ball up well, too, and gives you a different profile of winger when the game calls for it. But two goals in 50 games for a player who has played his fair proportion of games up front is not a good enough return.
If Cardiff have better alternatives lined up — and they should do, they've had more than enough time to address these issues in the forward areas — then, with his contract up next summer, it wouldn't be a massive surprise to see the Ivory Coast international leave.
Cian Ashford
A different profile of forward to Meite, a smaller, more technical wide player, but a promising prospect nonetheless.
Erol Bulut was determined to keep the Wales youth international on board this season, believing he could make a difference after he shot on to the scene with that match-winning goal against Southampton at the tail end of last season .Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
But it's just not happened for him. A niggling injury and being reduced to only substitute appearances, you can't help but feel this is a crucial period in the 20-year-old's career. Omer Riza has already suggested he might be one to head out on loan in January and that seems like a sensible option.
Jamilu Collins
Another player, like Meite, whose contract expires next June. His time at Cardiff has been a strange one, having a season wiped out through injury after impressing in his first few matches.
A nailed-on starter under Bulut, but a player who now seems to have fallen behind both Callum O'Dowda and Joel Bagan in the pecking order. But there's clearly a very good player there.
Collins, 30, is free to talk to other clubs in January and given City's priority is to call in reinforcements at the top end of the pitch, the Nigeria international might be one who makes way. He's clearly unhappy not to be playing, considering himself a senior player in this squad, and might seek game time elsewhere.
Ryotaro Tsunoda
Following on from the above, Ryotaro Tsunoda is also someone the club hope can blossom into a Joel Bagan-type left centre-back, left-back hybrid in the next year or so.
But having recovered from hamstring surgery following a bright start to his loan stint at KV Kortrijk last season, the Japanese defender is going to need another loan in the new year to build up his confidence and match sharpness.
He made his first appearance in a Bluebirds shirt at the weekend, playing for the under-21s, and that will hopefully represent another step closer to senior football. Although that is likely to be for another club in January.
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Michael Reindorf
A tricky one, this. Calls for him to get first-team minutes are premature for some, while others cite Kanga's goal drought and believe the former Norwich City forward can offer more.
In whichever camp you sit, if Reindorf isn't playing senior football come the new year then that has to change. And you'd think, with Cardiff likely to sign at least one striker in the new year, his chances will diminish with new faces.
He might be one, like the likes of Joel Colwill and likely Ashford, that the club are earmarking for next season. If that is the case, he needs a good loan, either in the Football League or abroad, to really prove he can do it with the big boys.
The 20-year-old's goal record is fantastic for the young Bluebirds, but if that doesn't translate to men's football then it doesn't count for too much. 'Go out and have a half-season audition', might be the directive.
Roko Simic
OK, not strictly a Cardiff player exiting the building, but the striker needs to find a different club in the new year.
The 21-year-old Croatian was signed before the summer deadline before he was immediately loaned out to KV Kortrijk. Given City's need for a forward at that time, it left many inside and outside the club with their eyebrows raised.
The former RB Salzburg striker has started just one of his four games for City's sister club out in Belgium and is yet to score a goal. He's largely been consigned to the bench, in reality.
Last week it was confirmed he suffered an injury that will likely keep him out weeks, but it could spell the end of his difficult period with KVK. He needs to get a loan elsewhere because Cardiff are adamant there is a player there and they want him ready for summer 2025.
