Here are your Cardiff City transfer headlines for Monday, June 20.
Cardiff identify priority positions needed next
Cardiff are keen on strengthening the spine of their squad further and have identified centre-back, central midfield and striker as the three positions they would like to add to next, WalesOnline has learned.
The Bluebirds have been the most active side in the Championship so far this summer, bringing in eight players ahead of Wednesday's return for pre-season. But while Cardiff have added depth at wing-back, on the wing and in goal, they are now hopeful of moving on to the middle of the side.
READ MORE : Gareth Bale twist as Cardiff City no longer favourites to sign him
It is understood Cardiff want to bring in a centre-back, centre-mid and striker as a matter of priority, with offers having been tabled for players in each position. However at time of writing there has been no acceptance of any of those offers just yet.
This week does promise to be a busy one for Cardiff, though, and they are hopeful of getting more deals moving as the players and staff return to their Vale of Glamorgan HQ to step up pre-season plans.
Evans set to seal loan switch
Kieron Evans is set to sign on loan for Torquay United in the coming days, WalesOnline understands.
The Wales youth international, who spent the back half of last term on loan with Belfast-based club Linfield, broke through into the first team at Cardiff at the beginning of last season, but it became apparent he needed more senior football under his belt if he was to become a regular with City.
And that appears to be the consensus this time around. Evans recently went down to National League side Torquay for a day's training ahead of agreeing a potential loan move and that now seems to have happened.
The 20-year-old will want more game-time this time around compared to his stint in Belfast earlier this year and Cardiff will want to see him make his mark, given Torquay play in the fifth tier of English football.
It is also understood another player will agree a loan departure in the coming days, too.
Joe Ralls yet to sign and won't report for pre-season
Joe Ralls is still yet to sign the contract which has been put to him by Cardiff. Some might think that, due him to being under contract until the end of this month, he will be there for day one of pre-season training this week. However, WalesOnline understands that won't be the case.
While Ralls and the club remain at an impasse over his deal, the player will not be taking part in pre-season preparations.
Cardiff are adamant the ball is now in Ralls' court and has been since they put the contract to him some months ago some time. The club believe they have offered the 28-year-old midfielder the best deal they possibly can, one which would make him the highest-paid player at the club as things stand.
As ever with these sorts of things, it is never put in the public domain just how much these players are earning, however rumours that Ralls was offered half of his current salary were vehemently denied by sources at Cardiff.
As for Ralls himself, sources close to the player have insisted this decision is not one which will be made over the money offered to him, rather the sort of project he would be signing up for. It is understood the player wanted to take his time and carefully consider his next steps while Steve Morison assembled his squad for next year, to see how he would fit in and what the realistic ambitions of the club are for next term.
Ralls has more than 300 Cardiff City appearances to his name, having this year celebrated 12 years at the club. Read the full story here.
Ken Choo says 'exciting times ahead' for academy
Cardiff City CEO Ken Choo believes there are "exciting times ahead" for the club after construction has started on the Bluebirds' huge new academy complex in Llanrumney
For Cardiff, it is yet another huge stride towards leaning on and bettering the club's academy, which has produced a number of first-team players over the last two years. The club hope that number will increase in the years to come, too, with the hope being that this plush new facility attracts more kids in the catchment area to Wales' capital city club.
The Bluebirds have made a conscious decision to chop their wage bill drastically in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with owner Vincent Tan seeing his leisure empire being hit hard in the pocket over recent years. There is a clear plan in place for Cardiff to make their academy as strong as it possibly can be with the aim of becoming far more self-sufficient in the years to come.
And that is the view taken by Choo, who has said the beginning of this construction is the first building block towards "future-proofing" the club in the long term.
“Tan Sri Vincent Tan and all of us on the board at Cardiff City Football Club see this fantastic development as one of the club’s cornerstones going forward," Choo said. "It is exciting times for the Academy coming back to Cardiff as we seek to build on the success of the recent influx of young players into our first-team squad.
“The investment will improve the quality of our facilities and future proof the Academy for years to come as we seek to drive standards and quality throughout the program of developing our young players into professional footballers.” You can read the full story here.
