Cardiff City closing in on exciting Nottingham Forest loan capture
The Bluebirds may be set to make their seventh signing of the summer transfer window
Cardiff City have made ambitious signings despite facing a transfer embargo, bringing in players like Karlan Grant, Yakou Meite, and Josh Bowler.
The team still needs to address their deficiencies, particularly in the central defender position, and they are close to signing Jonathan Panzo on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Panzo would be a valuable addition to the team, being a left-footed centre-back with excellent ball-playing qualities that align with Cardiff’s possession-based style of play and help them build from the back.
Cardiff City have embarked upon an ambitious shopping spree – albeit under transfer embargo – as they plot fresh targets and renewed ambition for this term.
With former-Fenerbache boss Erol Bulut now at the helm, the Bluebirds have pushed the boat out amid testing circumstances to welcome the likes of Karlan Grant, Yakou Meite, and Josh Bowler to the Cardiff City Stadium, alongside the captures of Dimitros Goutas and Ike Ugbo and, most notably, the homecoming of Aaron Ramsey.
That said, there are still deficiencies within the side, ones which were exposed on occasions during Cardiff’s 2-2 draw away at Leeds United last weekend.
A second central defender signing has been on the wishlist for some time now, and it looks as though Bulut is close to finally getting his man in the form of Jonathan Panzo.
Cardiff City’s Jonathan Panzo transfer interest
As per the Not The Top 20 Pod on Twitter, Cardiff are in talks with Panzo for a loan switch to the Welsh capital, which would see him become the second Forest player to make the move this summer after the acquisition of Bowler.
It comes after Bulut had denied any interest when quizzed on a previous report last week, confirming: “No. Right now, no interest.”
But Cardiff have been long-term admirers of Panzo and were believed to be looking to engineer a move a year and a half ago now, while the defender was plying his trade with Dijon in France.
The former Chelsea prospect moved to then-Championship rivals Forest instead but made just one appearance for Steve Cooper’s side before joining Coventry City on a season-long loan last campaign.
Would Nottingham Forest’s Jonathan Panzo be a good signing for Cardiff City?
Make no mistake about it, Panzo would represent yet another sincere statement of intent from the Bluebirds.
He made a lasting impression in the West Midlands and featured 29 times in the league for last season’s play-off finalists, looking every bit a player capable of competing at the top end of this division.
The key factor with Panzo is that he is a left-footed centre-back, which is, of course, a precious commodity these days.
Due to this and, naturally, a footballing curriculum at the famed Chelsea academy, he possesses excellent ball-playing qualities and, in turn, composure and resistance when pressed by opposing attackers, both of which align with Bulut’s possession-based modus operandi and would help Cardiff to build from the back even more.
During the trip to Elland Road, Cardiff’s defenders often found themselves launching punts upfield instead of progressing play right from the backline as they were repeatedly hounded by Leeds’ frontmen, but Panzo is the type of player with the weaponry to cope with this pressure.
Crucially, Cardiff are also in dire need of reinforcements in this area of this pitch.
Goutas and Mark McGuinness make for a solid defensive duo, but, away from them, City’s only other senior centre-back is Jack Simpson, who has really struggled ever since moving to Wales last year.
