Cardiff City striker Sory Kaba has left the door ajar to a return to the Welsh capital next season after realising his "dream" of playing in the English Football League.
Kaba was a deadline-day loan signing from Midtjylland in Denmark, with Cardiff keen to add a bit more stature and physicality to a forward line that was losing too many aerial duels.
The Guinea international has certainly brought that. He has bought into the club ethos and appears to have endeared himself to supporters with his interaction and clear personality on and off the pitch.
He will have done himself no harm on Saturday, either, netting the first goal in a 2-0 Severnside derby win over Bristol City, his second goal in six games for the Bluebirds.
And when asked if he would be interested on returning to south Wales for the 2023/24 campaign, Kaba replied: "Yeah.
"For now I am just focusing on doing good here. My dream was coming to English football and I am very, very happy Cardiff opened the door for me.
"So, I will give everything until that moment and we will see what will happen. But for me, my dream was always to play in England."
The forward, 27, is on loan until the end of the campaign, but his contract in Denmark still has another season left to run. That might represent a bit of a snag for Cardiff if they indeed do attempt to lure him back to Wales in the off-season, with the Bluebirds currently unable to spend a fee in the transfer market due to an EFL embargo stipulation.
However, Cardiff are fighting for that particular rule to be lifted come the next transfer window. If not, then another loan would be the only option, unless Midtjylland agree to terminate his contract to help facilitate a move.
That, though, is still some months away from being a problem. Kaba has a big role to play here and now. Sabri Lamouchi will hope his goals can help fire City to safety.
His header against the Robins at the weekend was sensational. Kudos to Ryan Wintle, who whipped a fantastic and inviting ball right into the striker's path, but Kaba arched backwards and sent a powerful header cannoning off the inside of the post and into the back of the net.
“It was an important goal,” Kaba added. “But the most important thing is that we won the game.
"We know this was a derby, and coming from Norwich it’s good that we came back and got the win, and important to get back-to-back wins at home.
“It’s my second goal for the club, and it shows I’m getting into the group well. It’s a very big club with a good group of players. I was so passionate scoring in front of our end too and it was very nice to do that.”
He is not resting on his laurels, though. Having not played since November, the striker admitted he has not performed to the levels he has expected so far. Indeed, he believes there is even more in the tank.
“I like it here! I’m coming from Denmark, and I haven’t played a game since November because of the break," he added.
"So, I’ve had one month here, but I think I need to step up a little bit too, because there’s some action in the game that I need to do better at.
“Slowly I’m getting to where I want to be physically. I know myself I need to improve because I haven’t played for a long time. Scoring gives me a lot of confidence and the team confidence, and winning is always good.”
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