Cardiff City ace once wanted by Swansea City needs to 'do more talking on the pitch' - he's been a South Wales Derby hero | OneFootball

Swansea City were reportedly once keen on snapping up the winger now playing for their biggest rivals

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ollie Tanner has established himself as a South Wales Derby hero at Cardiff City for his exploits in Welsh football's fiercest club fixture, but had things played out differently, the winger could've been turning out for arch-rivals Swansea City instead.

The South Wales derby is one that is full of hatred, with both Cardiff and Swansea historically battling for their country’s bragging rights.

There have been periods of history where one side has enjoyed a higher standing than the other, with the Swans currently operating out of a superior division to their bitter rivals.

Scoring goals on derby day is a surefire way of writing your name into either of these clubs’ respective folklore and that is exactly what Tanner did in 2023.

The tricky wide-man opened his account for Cardiff in spectacular fashion by scoring the opener in the Bluebirds' 2-0 home victory over Swansea - their first in ten years at the time - before winning the penalty which Aaron Ramsey converted to put the game beyond doubt, and he also set up Callum Robinson's late equaliser in last season's South Wales Derby draw in SA1.

Although he is now adored by Cardiff supporters for his contributions to the Bluebirds, there was once a time when he supposedly came close to signing for their bitter rivals.

Swansea City verdict given on ex-transfer target Ollie Tanner - Cardiff City man needs to 'do more talking on the pitch'

Before the 23-year-old made his move to join the Bluebirds, he was operating out of the Isthmian Premier Division with Lewes FC. At that time, the former Arsenal academy man was catching attention due to his brilliant performances and interest in his services began to present itself.

When speaking on the Central Club podcast, Tanner revealed that a few Premier League clubs were keen on snapping up, alongside some Championship outfits, with none other than Swansea City included in that list. According to Tanner, the Swans attempted a late move for his services, but he decided to join Cardiff instead.

Whilst there have been flashes of brilliance from him in South Wales, most notably on Derby Day against both Swansea and Bristol City he still hasn’t fully lived up to his promise in a Cardiff shirt. Tanner's end product has notably been questioned, although the winger looked every bit capable of defining himself as a key player under Brian Barry-Murphy in this season's promotion push out of League One before suffering a horror injury back in August against AFC Wimbledon.

When queried on whether his club dodged a bullet in this scenario, Football League World’s Swansea City fan pundit, Will Hughes, questioned whether the Swans actually held a substantial interest in the winger originally, and has told Tanner to do more talking on the pitch.

“I don't rate him whatsoever,” stated Will. “He has one moment every 20 games and then afterwards, you don't see him at all.

“When he said we were interested in signing him all those years ago, we would have had top-quality wingers, so I don’t know why we would be looking at Tanner.

“I think it was just a ploy to try and get him more adored by the Cardiff City fans. I don't think Cardiff are really missing him with how they're doing at the moment. I haven't got much feeling towards the guy. I don't think he's all that.

‘He needs to do a bit more talking on the pitch. He scored that goal against Swansea, but why hasn’t he turned up more consistently for Cardiff? You can turn up against us as much as you want. Ultimately, he's in League One now.

"So, he needed to turn up a lot more than just those two games against us.”

Cardiff City's Ollie Tanner may have struggled to make an impact at Swansea City

Although Tanner has proven to be a capable Championship winger at times during his years in the second-tier, moving to Swansea may have halted his progress.

During the 23-year-old’s first season with the Bluebirds, they narrowly avoided relegation to League One, finishing 21st in the standings and just five points clear of Reading, whilst Swansea came just three points away from a play-off finish. Tanner spent the second-half of that season on a nightmare loan spell with York City, though he returned to force his way into Erol Bulut's plans and has been a regular fixture ever since.

Cardiff did manage to finish just above their rivals in the following season, but were relegated in 24th place the term after, whilst Swansea enjoyed a top half placing once more.

If Tanner has struggled to fully showcase his talents at Cardiff, it isn’t likely that he would’ve achieved greater things in a competitive Swans side, especially with wingers such as Ronald Pereira in the squad.