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Glen Williams

Cardiff City transfer news as Sol Bamba wanted by rivals and West Brom star was out of Bluebirds' price range

Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Tuesday, August 16.

Sol Bamba training with Bristol City

Sol Bamba is currently training with Bristol City with Nigel Pearson understood to be keen on bolstering his defensive options.

First reported by BristolWorld, we also understand that Pearson is keen on recruiting Bamba, who ended his one-year spell with Middlesbrough in the summer.

READ MORE: Cardiff City transfer news Live: Latest on signings, departures and pre-West Brom press conference

It is understood Bamba, 37, was weighing up whether to continue playing or to sign on for another year somewhere else to prolong his playing career.

And Pearson has something of an issues at the back, with Tomas Kalas and Rob Atkinson both currently experiencing injury issues.

Morison: Wallace is out of our price range

Cardiff City manager Steve Morison believes that West Brom star Jed Wallace will try even harder to get one over on his good pal on Wednesday night just so he can rub it in his face.

Morison is good mates with Wallace, following their time together at Millwall, and the Bluebirds boss said earlier in the summer that he would sign him in a heartbeat if they were able to. However, he added: "There will always be an offer on the table for Jed, it will just be a lot less than what he’d be offered elsewhere!"

Well, that offer came from West Brom, where he has been one of the standout players in what has been a sub-par start for Steve Bruce's men.

But, on Wallace, Morison said: "He is most probably going to try a bit harder. Because he will want to text me after and tell me he beat me!

"He's a good player. He is someone we wouldn't be able to facilitate, financially. He is one of many good players they've got and we will try and stop him having an impact in the game."

West Brom boss highlights major Bluebirds change

Steve Bruce is expecting a vastly-different Cardiff City side at The Hawthorns to the one he has been in the opposite dugout to in years gone by.

We saw Birmingham City boss John Eustace heap praise on Cardiff's change of playing style and now, it appears, another Championship boss has taken notice, too.

The West Brom boss has said today: "They're certainly changing their approach. In the past Cardiff have always been a little bit direct, a little bit back to front. I've just been watching them there against Birmingham at the weekend, they won quite comfortably.

"They're playing differently to that. They'll pose another threat to us. New manager, new style, new way, different mind-set. It's not the Cardiff of old where they're all 6ft 6ins and they're asking you questions physically.

"They've had a decent start, they've got a couple of wins under their belt. Like any other Championship game, it'll be an ultimate test for us."

Bruce will come up against a former Baggies player in Romaine Sawyers tomorrow night. Sawyers spent the back end of last season on loan at Stoke City, so Bruce barely saw him before he left on a free.

He's seen Sawyers enough, though, to know he's a talented player.

"I never saw him here, he was away already," Bruce said of Sawyers. "Of course there was a decision to make. He was the other one we let go to make way for others. I hadn't seen him, but it was a decision you have to make.

"I have to live with it, stand by it, that's my job. The kid's a good player, though, I know that."

O'Dowda reveals preferred position and is hungry for more goals and assists

Cardiff City's man of the moment Callum O'Dowda wants to continue adding to his goals and assists tally after his white-hot start to life with the Bluebirds.

O'Dowda silenced any doubters in his first three games in the blue jersey, having been directly involved in every goal the club has scored so far this season.

He has contributed one goal and two assists, as many goal contributions as he had in his final two seasons at Bristol City, and has delighted Cardiff fans. He is thankful for the welcome he has received from them.

"I'm really happy and delighted to have signed for such a massive club," he told the club's programme. "I'm really pleased with the start I've had so far and how welcomed I've been by the fans and everybody around the club.

"I think being higher up the pitch and using my strengths to attack is something I want to do more and the more goals and assists I get, the better.

"I am hungry for more and I want to hit my personal targets this season whilst getting us as high up the table as possible."

The notion that O'Dowda was brought in to cover as a wing-back was quickly dispelled by the club. They see him as a potent attacking option and you can see why. The Republic of Ireland is also grateful Steve Morison sees it that way.

"In the past I've been used as a wing-back, but I think playing higher on the left side is where I'm strongest.

"I've spoken with the manager a lot about my positional play and we've done a lot of work on that since I've arrived. We talk about my positioning on and off the ball and the finer details about where the ball is on the pitch.

"I do have the versatility to fill in at other positions if I'm needed and obviously anything can change throughout the season."

On that left-hand side, where he featured against Norwich City and Reading before switching for that Birmingham City game at the weekend, he struck up quite the partnership with another Bluebirds fan favourite, Jamilu Collins.

"I've already developed a good understanding to the way Jamilu plays," he added. "He's an attacking full-back but he's so difficult for opponents to get past, which gives me a lot of reassurance as an attacking player."

Eli King on Marlon Pack's influence

Bluebirds youngster Eli King has spoken of the influence Marlon Pack had on him during the latter's time with the club.

Pack returned to Cardiff City Stadium with Portsmouth last week, helping Pompey to a 3-0 win over his former side in the Carabao Cup, and his legacy with the Bluebirds might just continue through King.

In a recent edition of the club's matchday programme, King said: "I loved working in training with Marlon. When I first trained with the first teamat the age of 16 or 17, I remember that he was the one who first spoke to me.

"He always wanted to help me and that continued right up until the day he left. I've picked up a lot from him - not just the information he passed onto me, but just watching him every day, seeing the little things he did on the pitch, the way he acts, the way he plays."

King made the step up to the first team last season, but has struggled to force his way into a hotly-contested area of the park.

Speaking about the step up from academy level, he added: "I think the fitness can always be tough, but the hardest thing about being with the first team is that the standards are higher and the quality is higher.

"As well as being fit, you have to be on the ball with all the football stuff as well.

"We've got a big squad and because of the number of games we have in the season, there's going to be rotation at times."

Youngster on first-team ambitions and new academy leader

Cardiff City youngster Jack Leahy is eyeing another successful season with the Bluebirds.

Having impressed in pre-season with the first team, the 19-year-old winger has his sights set on breaking into that first team.

"I feel my pre-season has gone really well. I've had good feedback from Pursey [Darren Purse] and Blox [Matthew Bloxham], to try and help me. I'm pushing on now to carry on, working hard and seeing what happens," he told the club's programme.

"Steve Morison has been great with me in pre-season, helping me out a lot alongside Tom Ramasut and Mark Hudson, they've all been great. I've had good feedback from Morro, but it's about pushing on now and whether that's playing with the U21s or even making appearances in the first team then I want to be the best player I can be.

"I always want to be ready, because you never know what's around the corner."

There has been a number of fresh faces brought into Darren Purse's under-21s squad, one of which is former Fulham centre-back Xavier Benjamin.

Speaking about the new recruits, Leahy added: "I'm always there to encourage the newer guys, whether they're younger stepping up or new faces to the club.

"Xavier Benjamin is a good character in himself and is already one of the leaders in the team, bearing in mind he's only been here a few weeks!

"The young lads are all spot on; they work hard and listen to their team-mates and the coaches, so it's an exciting one to be a part of and I can't wait to see what the future brings."

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