Kieffer Moore would be a huge piece of Cardiff City’s jigsaw puzzle and give Bulut major shot at success
Cardiff are interested in bringing Kieffer Moore back to the Welsh capital with the Wales forward short on game time at Bournemouth
Cardiff City have made their interest in Kieffer Moore known to Bournemouth – for the Bluebirds, it’s now a waiting game.
Cardiff have brought in a number of quality players in this transfer window, but at the time of writing it is fair to say they need a few more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to slot into place before they turn themselves into real top-six contenders.
Well, Moore would represent a huge piece of that puzzle, if the Bluebirds can somehow manage to broker a deal which brings him back to the Welsh capital.
READ MORE: Cardiff City consider audacious move for Wales goal ace Kieffer Moore
Cardiff have been desperately lacking in the attacking department in recent seasons but Erol Bulut and the club’s board have sought to address that problem in this window.
The addition of Karlan Grant has the potential to be a masterstroke, a rapid, tricky winger, who can also play up top and has a proven goal record at Championship level. Yakou Meite is of a similar ilk, having notched double figures in three of his last five seasons in the second tier.
Aaron Ramsey comes in as the puppet master, pulling strings and finding holes and pockets which would previously not have existed before such a calibre of player was brought into the building.
As for Ike Ugbo, well, he has had a slow start to pre-season, but there is bound to be more to come from him, having enjoyed decent seasons in both the Dutch and Belgian leagues in the not-so-distant past.
They will all add quality, while Callum Robinson, another proven operator, and Rubin Colwill, a player with mountains of potential, are both more than capable of producing the spectacular. Kion Etete showed glimpses of his capabilities last season, but he has also found pre-season a struggle thus far.
A bona fide, Championship-calibre No.9 is the one thing that is missing from this squad. A regular and dependable source of goals. And that is exactly what Moore is. He could do fantastic things for Cardiff with the sort of player he would find surrounding him this time around — as opposed to the months preceding his departure to Bournemouth.
Think of Moore’s relationship with Harry Wilson last time he was here. Now add Ramsey, Grant and Robinson and then it is really a cocktail for success and, suddenly, City can really start to have designs on the top end of the Championship table once again.
Moore is wonderful in the air, better with his feet than some give him credit for and, importantly, has that composure and nous in front of goal that has been sorely lacking from City’s strikers in recent years.
Of course, it must be stressed that we are in the incredibly early stages of any sort of deal getting over the line.
Cardiff have made their stance clear and it’s understood Moore doesn’t exactly figure in new Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola’s plans. However, the Cherries find themselves in a bit of a sticky situation themselves.
It is understood the Cherries are keen to offload Jamal Lowe this summer, too, and with Antoine Semenyo still injured, it leaves them worryingly short of striker options heading into the Premier League season.
It is likely Bournemouth will wait until they have a new striker or two already in the building before they allow someone of Moore’s quality to exit. Moore has played in every pre-season game for them so far. As such, this has the potential to be a negotiation which runs unless something changes dramatically, so patience is required.
Iraola was not asked specifically about Moore following the Cherries’ 3-2 win over Southampton on Tuesday night, but on transfers he did hint there could be some movement out of the building in the coming weeks, saying: “As coaches we hate when the market is open and the competition is going. In August you have three games and there are players training with you who maybe are not going to finish with you, others you don’t have, other who don’t know what they are going to do or where they are going to play.
“For us, it is much better when the market closes, you know the players you have, you can do your own planning. But it is the same for every coach, for every club and we will try to do it as best we can.”
It is not the only position in which Cardiff are looking to add quality. Bulut has identified central midfield as an area in which Cardiff need strengthening and the club are working hard to get a player in to fill that role.
Centre-back coverage looks light, too, with Mark McGuinness and Dimitrios Goutas the first-choice pair, but there is an apparent drop-off in quality beyond that.
So there is work to do, still, despite a very successful window for City thus far. But getting someone like Moore in would suddenly change fans’ expectations, you feel.
Heading into the window, following the exit of Sabri Lamouchi, the supporters were exasperated and appeared devoid of hope, but with a new manager and some real quality having come through the door, Bluebirds fans are quietly optimistic.
The signing of Moore would markedly amp up the volume, however, and rightly it should. Cardiff have not seen a striker produce the number of goals in a single season as Moore did in a City shirt for a decade before he came along.
Bulut has placed strong emphasis on scoring more goals since coming in. He has signed a goalscoring centre-half in Goutas, while Meite and Grant are goal threats from the wide players. But at Championship level, having a top striker who can find the back of the net regularly all season long is an absolute must if you are to get out of this division at the top end.
At the very least, the intent to try and sign Moore is yet another signal of Cardiff’s ambitions this season and, more importantly after some disappointing campaigns, more reason for Bluebirds supporters to be encouraged by what lies ahead.
