Cardiff City are set to battle it out with fellow Championship promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion over the signing of Fenerbahce centre-forward Umut Nayir, according to reports in Turkey.
After an excellent start to the 2023/24 campaign, the Welsh outfit have struggled to find consistency in their league form and have picked up 11 wins and 11 losses in England’s second tier. This has left Erol Bulut’s side ninth in the table but just three points off the final playoff place, currently occupied by Sunderland.
Cardiff City’s primary issue this season has been struggling to put the ball in the net. Bulut’s men have scored 34 times in 26 matches, the tenth-worst record in the Championship this campaign and the worst of all clubs in the division’s top ten teams.
Furthermore, 14 different players have scored for the Bluebirds this season. However, the side’s top goalscorer is Kion Etete, who has recorded just five in all competitions this term.
Nevertheless, as per the latest reports, Cardiff City are keen to bolster their attacking department this month. According to Turkish journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, via West Brom News, Cardiff are keen to sign Turkey international Umut Nayir.
Nayir has struggled for game-time this season with Fenerbahce, having played just 120 minutes, spread across 12 appearances, which comes to 10 minutes per game on average. Unsurprisingly, Nayir has failed to score a single goal.
However, the 30-year-old has proven he can find the net, having bagged 118 goals in 332 matches throughout his career, with his market value sitting at merely £850,000, as per Transfermarkt, which has seemingly piqued the interest of Cardiff.
Writer’s View
It’s not a surprise that Cardiff City are linked with Umut Nayir. It looks as though the player wants away from Fenerbahce this winter and Bulut will know the player really well from his time managing in Turkey which could make this transfer a possibility.
Furthermore, the Bluebirds could get this deal over the line for a relatively cheap sum of money which could help improve the side’s goalscoring woes during the second half of the campaign.
Deputy Head of Writing
