With the late arrival of Leicester City loanee Will Alves, freelance reporter Sion Misra spoke about the state of play at the Cardiff City Stadium, weighing in on their arrivals so far.
Cardiff announced the arrival of young winger Will Alves this morning, their first and currently sole arrival on the final day of the winter transfer window. The 19-year-old England under-20 international has made just one short appearance in the Premier League for his home club, and has arrived in south Wales with hope of “kicking on”.
Sion described Alves as “a quick player” and shared his full view on the new arrival:
“Whenever you sign someone that labels an England youth international, it brings some excitement to any team. And in this Cardiff City team, I think Alves ticks a lot of boxes.
“He said in an interview when he joined the club that he was a creative player.And I think they (Cardiff) have maybe lacked a bit of creativity, especially down the wing in recent games.
“More importantly, he’s a quick player. He’s very, very quick. And there’s not a lot of pace in this Cardiff City team. So I think he brings a lot of things that Omar Reza needs. And hopefully, he’ll be a key part of pushing Cardiff up the table.”
Alves joins Yousef Salech and Sivert Mannsverk through the door at the CCS, with 23-year-old Salech arriving from Swedish side IK Sirius to further bolster the attack.
“I think this Cardiff squad isn’t a bad squad. But when you add Salech, Mannsverk, and now an Alves, you’re just adding maybe a little bit of quality that maybe can just push Cardiff on,” added Misra.
“I think Omar Riza will be very happy with what’s happened this transfer window so far.”
Cardiff go into deadline day off the back of a 7-0 defeat away to league leaders Leeds United, putting an end to their eight-game unbeaten run prior. Tensions are higher than usual off the back of this hefty result but Sion suggests Cardiff don’t have too much to worry about:
“I think when you lose 7-0, there is an overreaction to whoever it is. It’s quite mad to say, but I don’t think Cardiff played badly in that game. I just think when you play a team like Leeds, who have got the quality they have, their clinical nature, I think they’d put anyone away 7-0 on that day.
“So I don’t think there needs to be a panic. I think January is always a tough window to get players in any way.”
Alves appears to be the only piece of incoming business for the Bluebirds this deadline day, with left-back Jamilu Collins and attacker Michael Reindorf looking set to go the other way. Cardiff currently sit 19th in the Championship, four points clear of the drop with only 16 games left to play this season.
New boss Omer Riza will hope to be able to steer his club to safety this season with the talent he already has at his disposal.