Cardiff City head into this summer's transfer window with a big job to do if they are to arm new manager Erol Bulut with a squad capable of making a better fist of the 2023/24 Championship campaign than they have the previous two seasons.
The Bluebirds narrowly staved off relegation last season, with arguably their three best players - Cedric Kipre, Sory Kaba and Jaden Philogene - all having returned to their parent clubs having seen their loans ended.
It leaves Bulut, the board and the recruitment staff with a weighty burden of responsibility this summer. But if the mood in the room last Monday, during Bulut's unveiling, was anything to go by, those at the top appear rejuvenated and motivated by the challenge this summer.
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Whether that translates into all of Cardiff's transfer wishes coming through remains to be seen, but we know that Bulut has already set his sights on a number of incomings over the coming weeks and months.
"We have to discuss about that, but already I have in my head the players I want already," Bulut said of the transfer plans a week ago. "We need in every department. Offensive department, Cardiff last season scored only 41 goals. Second bottom scorers.
"In attacking, we have to invest, in my opinion. Also in the midfield. Attacking is not only wingers, strikers, No.10. This will start from the back, from the goalkeeper.
"We have some players in our hand (to bring in). We will have to discuss about that. Some players we will have to search and make a start. I think from the club, their contracts are finished, seven of them.
"I have to see the players in training for the first 10 days to decide if they are players we will keep. I think around eight to 10 players can be possible.
"It will be a mix (of players from Britain and Europe), because the last few years it was British. So, not on the European market. In the European market there are good players, so we will search from them and bring that kind of players in to have that kind of success."
So, what can we expect this summer? Let's take a closer look.
The big announcements
Chairman Mehmet Dalman's teasing comments during the closing credits at the end of Bulut's first press conference certainly got tongues wagging.
After the meeting with the media, Dalman, Bulut and Choo met with supporters' groups and, according to the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust, told them an "exciting" signing which "would be regarded very positively by fans" is on its way.
That came after he boldly predicted that Cardiff, who have sold around 12,000 season tickets, would max out their allocation of 18,000 with the announcements he had to make in the coming weeks.
"I reckon we will sell 18,000 (season tickets). I have got a couple of other announcements to make," Dalman said on Monday. "Erol and I have got a few more announcements to make that I think will make the fans happy."
Clearly, supporters clung on to those words and began a social media guessing game as to who the mystery signing or signings would be that would fit the bill. Some theories thrown up were Aaron Ramsey, Kieffer Moore and even Gareth Bale coming out of retirement.
Whatever the announcements are, clearly Dalman is confident of getting them over the line. Indeed, he has said on more than one occasion that a transfer was in the pipeline before Bulut was brought on board as manager - so that indicates it's a club decision.
It's also heartening to see the buzz and fervour around what Dalman might have deemed a throwaway comment at the end of the press conference. But after two years of dour football and sub-par results, the summer represents a time when Cardiff fans can dream again and are looking for optimism. In that regard, perhaps Dalman was not naïve at all and wanted to further ramp up that excitement.
We will find out in due course, but one suspects at least one big name is close to getting signed, sealed and delivered.
Foreign flavour to transfers
Expect Cardiff's business this summer to be a nice blend of domestic and overseas transfers.
The Bluebirds dipped their toe into the foreign market last season with the acquisition of Jamilu Collins, who looked a million dollars until he got injured in his fourth game, and Sory Kaba, whose impact was monumental in the final few months of the season.
Add that to a foreign manager, who already has targets of his own lined up, and we can expect a transfer window like never before. The Supporters' Trust also heard that four or five targets were in Bulut's crosshairs and you can expect them to be from Turkey, Greece, Germany or any of their neighbouring countries. WalesOnline has learned that a few African players have also been drawn up on shortlists.
Cardiff are looking to do things a little differently this summer, as evidenced by signing a little-known manager from Turkey. They want to mix things up and get different results and for that they must be applauded. It was only going one way if they continued with their failing strategy of the last two years.
Before Bulut's appointment, though, the recruitment team were also drawing up their own targets. Yes, some were from abroad, but there were also players on these shores who were catching the eye.
As the new manager said, expect a mixture of signings this summer. Perhaps four or five from abroad and about the same from the UK, as a rough estimate.
Patience will also be needed, too. Bulut has immediate targets lined up, but he also said he was willing to wait until near the end of the window when clubs have decided what they want to do with fringe players. Cardiff could capitalise on them towards the end of August.
Ban on paying fees
Cardiff have appealed their EFL ban on paying fees and are working hard to find a resolution.
They hope a solution can be found, but at time of writing, they may have to wait until the January window for that. But that could quickly change, it has been stressed.
For the time being, though, Cardiff are having to work on the proviso that they are unable to pay fees - not even loan fees - for players and that massively narrows the pool of players from which they can sign.
Dialogue continues between Cardiff and the Football League, but, as Dalman put it, they will have to be "creative" if they are to pump the requisite quality for pushing up the table into the squad this summer.
Heavy leaning on loans
As such, expect more heavy leaning on the loan system.
It's a method of transfer which has served them well in recent years. Just off the top of the head, Philogene, Kaba, Kipre, Cody Drameh, Tommy Doyle, Jordan Hugill, Uche Ikpeazu, Ryan Giles and Harry Wilson spring to mind - all of whom massively improved the squad.
A lot of work goes into Cardiff's scouting of prospective loan players, it's an 18-month plan for the most part. Expect players who are signed on loan this summer to have been targets for quite some time.
The work has paid off, too, and the recruitment department and analysts can take a lot of credit for that. Will they plump for the foreign loan market, like Kaba, more this time around? Quite possibly. It's certainly likely.
Last year Cardiff have found that some of the big clubs in England, with massive academies, who have a desire to loan out sometimes dozens of players at a time, were more reticent to loan out to clubs in Wales, with Cardiff coming under the FAW and therefore classing as a "foreign transfer", for want of a better phrase. It's how Cardiff missed out on Arsenal's Auston Trusty, who went on to win Birmingham City's player of the season.
The law is tightening even further this year, Premier League clubs are only permitted to send seven loan players to foreign associations. To avoid disappointment again, Cardiff's heads could turn to the continent for a couple of their loan acquisitions.
Cardiff could even opt for their full allocation of five, or near enough to that, loan players this summer.
Youngsters to head out
We have heard from under-21s manager Darren Purse over the last week and he has a clear plan for many of the youngsters in the academy.
He wants a number of them to head out on loan over the coming months, with Cameron Antwi, James Crole, Chanka Zimba, Vontae Campbell, Jai Semenyo, Ollie Tanner, Tom Davies and Kieron Evans all likely to try and find more senior football over the course of the next season.
The club's plan is to send players out to the Cymru Premier for their first loans, as they did with Davies, Matt Turner, Caleb Hughes and Jack Leahy, in order to make them more attractive to National League or lower Football League clubs for their second loans.
Cardiff are keen to utilise the loan system far more than they were previously and many believe that it's the way to go. Get them out there and get them exposure to senior environments and in turn it will help Cardiff in the long run.
If not, then the players have proven they can flourish in those environments and it will make it easier for them to secure permanent deals when they leave the club.
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