Cardiff face the very real prospect of ending the season with no right backs.
Having let Lee Peltier leave in the dying embers of the January transfer window, Jazz Richards may soon follow him, with his contract soon expiring and no sign of improved terms offered.
Dion Sanderson, although primarily a centre back, has done brilliantly in that role since arriving on loan from Wolves and hopefully Cardiff can find a way to keep hold of him beyond this season. But, if they can’t, the cupboard will be bare on the right side of defence.
That is far from the case on the left.
On the opposite flank, Cardiff currently have Joe Bennett, Greg Cunningham, Brad Smith and Joel Bagan on their books. A wealth, and surplus, of options. It will be interesting to see how Neil Harris decides to play it.
Joe Bennett is the undisputed number one in the position and has been a reliable feature in the side for a number of years now. He also has only one year left on his contract, so now is the time to try and either extend, cash in or risk losing him as a free agent next year.
That may seem like a no-brainer, but we are about to enter an uncertain future for football clubs. It is unlikely anyone will be splashing the cash any time soon because there is none left. Cardiff will also see their parachute payments come to an end at the end of next season.
If Harris wants to remodel his squad, he may have to sell to generate some spending money. This situation is also complicated by the fact that Cunningham’s contract also has only 12 months to run, so both players are in the same boat. It may well come down to a popularity contest, whether Harris’ favourite or whoever might generate the most interest in the transfer market.
It hasn’t worked out for Cunningham at Cardiff. I was pretty confident that he would unseat Bennett in the first-team, as he was more of a Neil Warnock type; tough-tackling and full-blooded. It never happened, though, as Bennett rose to the challenge and Cunningham was left with a watching brief.
Cunningham had a very good game against Manchester City last season, but opportunities have been few and far between. He was shipped off to Blackburn on loan last summer and impressed before sustaining a serious knee injury that has side-lined him ever since.
One would imagine his qualities would also appeal to Harris, but he has not yet had the chance to try and impress him. Although, his Millwall side will have faced Cunningham on a number of occasions over the years.
Both Bennett and Cunningham are big earners, so chances are that one will likely leave, but which one? Cardiff may already have a ready-made replacement in place to soften the blow too.
Smith has yet to feature for Cardiff, as he is currently playing the understudy role that Cunningham found so frustrating. He has also been trying to get his fitness levels up to speed after playing very little football prior to joining Cardiff.
It is therefore hard to make a case either way for Smith, but, in theory at least, he would seem a solid alternative. The 26-year-old Australia international came through the ranks at Liverpool, before joining Bournemouth for in excess of £3m in 2016. He rarely featured for them, but impressed in MLS, becoming a key player in Seattle Sounders’ championship-winning campaign last year.
Smith would appear to be like a greatest hits of Bennett and Cunningham, both solid in defence and swashbuckling in attack. His Bournemouth contract is also about to expire, so Cardiff will likely have a first refusal of sorts on him, should they wish to keep him. That will surely depend on the other two.
The fourth option is Joel Bagan, who has impressed on loan at Notts County. With supporters desperate to see an academy graduate in the first-team picture, Bagan, who turns 19 in September, looks the best bet to make that leap. He is up there with Ntazana Mayembe as the best prospect Cardiff has produced since Rabbi Matondo.
Bagan is certainly not yet ready to be a starter in the furnace of Championship football, and may not be up to deputising just now either, but that may also soon change and his development is sure to be a factor in the equation.
Cardiff may decide to loan him out again, or they may prefer to keep him close by. We don’t really know how highly the club rate him yet and the seemingly unfounded hype regarding Cameron Coxe is still fresh in the memory, but we shall soon see.
Cardiff face a similar situation in goal, where Alex Smithies, Neil Etheridge and Joe Day are all battling it out for two spots. You imagine that won’t still be the case come next season, as they will surely cash in on one of them.
One would imagine it is better to have lots of options, like Cardiff have on the left, than a daunting clean slate, which is what they are facing on the right.
It is surely no less taxing, though, and Cardiff have a lot of thinking, and shopping, to do in the summer if they are to restore balance to their lopsided defence.
