Cardiff set to sign Mannsverk on loan from Ajax
Cardiff City are set to sign Ajax midfielder Sivert Mannsverk on loan until the end of the season.
The Norwegian, 22, has completed his medical and agreed personal terms with the Welsh club.
Mannsverk, who has only made two league appearances for Ajax this season because of injury, could make his Bluebirds debut at Leeds United in Saturday’s Championship fixture.
His arrival is timely for Cardiff, who are without midfielders Aaron Ramsey and David Turnbull because of long-term injuries.
Mannsverk would become Cardiff’s second signing of the January transfer window, following striker Yousef Salech’s arrival from Swedish side Sirius.
For Cardiff to make further signings, senior club sources have indicated players may have to be sold.
The Bluebirds, who are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions, are 18th in the Championship.
Andy Rinomhota’s Cardiff City career seemed to be over at the start of this season.
With just one league start since then-manager Erol Bulut’s appointment in 2023, Rinomhota had been pushed firmly to the periphery.
Now, with the resurgent Bluebirds turning a corner in their bid for Championship survival, it is difficult to imagine current boss Omer Riza selecting a team without Rinomhota in it.
The 27-year-old’s revival is all the more remarkable because he has re-established himself in an unfamiliar position, switching from central midfield to right-back.
And Rinomhota has performed so well in his new role that he has made the position his own, at the expense of Cardiff’s player of the season for the previous two campaigns, Perry Ng.
Ng had to make do with a place on the bench when he first returned from injury and, even since reclaiming his starting place, it his him – not Rinomhota – who has been shifted over to left-back.
Rinomhota is now a pivotal part of a Cardiff team enjoying an eight-match unbeaten run – a far cry from the second half of last season when he was sent out on loan to Rotherham United.
“When Erol came in last season, it looked like I wasn’t going to be getting a chance, and I didn’t. That’s exactly how it was,” the Zimbabwe international says.
“I wanted to play as many games as I could so I had to go out on loan. I got games there, came back in and it still seemed like a similar situation. So I was thinking, do I go out on loan again? I just wanted to play football.
“I ended up staying and now, under Riz [Riza], I’ve managed to work myself back into the team and managed to keep a place there now. So I’m happy at the minute.”
