Cardiff City: Vincent Tan 'concern' dismissed as Wrexham, Birmingham City transfer claim made | OneFootball

The Bluebirds are now preparing for life back in the Championship after sealing promotion

Cardiff City's first season at League One level for over 20 years has proven to be a successful one, with the Bluebirds now preparing for life back in the Championship at the first time of asking.

It was a disastrous 2024/25 season on many levels which saw the Welsh club return to the third tier for the first time since 2002/03, with there being an immediate sense of expectation for the club to mount a promotion bid, despite having one of the youngest squads by average age in the division.

In truth, City's appointment of Brian Barry-Murphy last June on a three-year contract has been a masterstroke thus far, with the Irishman best known for his prior work at Rochdale in League One, before spells at Manchester City as Elite Development Squad manager and as a coach at Leicester City.

Cardiff's consistency has since been proven by the fact there is a 16-point gap between themselves in second place and third-placed Bolton Wanderers, who are currently the only League One club to have their play-off place fully secured ahead of the final day of the regular season.

It has been well-documented in recent times that the Bluebirds have promoted several academy graduates into the first-team fold, with the likes of Welsh international centre-back, Dylan Lawlor, already attracting top-flight suitors, whilst a handful of additions have been made on a limited budget under Vincent Tan's continued ownership.

With the Championship now lying in wait for Barry-Murphy and his side, Football League World asked our Cardiff City fan pundit, Matt Hall, if a continuation of this transfer policy would be a concern or not.

Cardiff City transfer prediction made amid Wrexham, Birmingham City comparisons

Alongside League One champions, Lincoln City, there will be plenty of intrigue as to how Cardiff perform next season, as only three newly-promoted sides have been immediately relegated from the Championship since the beginning of the 2020/21 campaign.

Of course, there is the obvious caveat that last season's automatically promoted duo of Birmingham City and Wrexham had invested, and continue to do so, heavily in the transfer market.

Hall, unsurprisingly, doesn't expect Cardiff's budget to be in the same stratosphere, but believes the club have the right philosophies despite murmurings that Tan is looking to sell the club.

"I'm not overly concerned with it, to be honest," he told FLW. "I think he (Tan) has put a lot of money into us, and he does continue to do so.

"I do think his tenure's coming to an end. I do understand that, probably, he won't be bankrolling a massive summer window.

"I do, for my faults, tend to believe the rumours that he will put his hands in his pockets if Barry-Murphy can put a case forward for a player to really benefit him," Hall stated.

"Ultimately, the better position he leaves the club and squad in, it means the better projection he has to make a sale and the amount of money he could command if that was to be the case.

"I think he has an appreciation when a manager is in line with what is asked of him, and that's exactly what Barry-Murphy has done. He's proven himself with the academy, and he could put forward an argument that every signing he's made has been worthwhile," our fan pundit continued.

"Do I think we'll be bankrolling signing, after signing, after signing for £5-6m each? Not a chance, and I don't think that's necessarily the right way to go anyway.

"I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. I don't think he (Tan) is going to go and give him a war chest in the way of how Wrexham and Birmingham have gone up and spent another £20-30m.

"But, I don't think he's just going to say, 'frees, loans and nothing more', like some suggest he's going to," Hall claimed.

"I don't think he'll let any key players go. They promised that last season, and I don't think they'll go back on that promise this season either.

"I think he'll give them a few million to go along, and as Barry-Murphy said himself, it's quality over quantity that he wants.

"Four or five, maybe six bits of quality and a few loans, you only need a couple of million here and there to help out with that. I think that would be enough for us to be able to compete well."

Cardiff City's biggest transfer priority at present has become clearer

Ultimately, so many of Cardiff's highly-rated prospects such as Lawlor, Ronan Kpakio, Joel Bagan and Rubin Colwill have blossomed in League One, and there is understandable hope that their respective upward trajectories continue in the Championship.

As Hall alluded to, City are unlikely to be throwing the chequebook at a plethora of new recruits, although their current transfer priority appears to be clear at this moment in time.

Indeed, it has been widely reported that the Welsh outfit are looking to permanently add Nathan Trott to Barry-Murphy's squad after an impressive loan campaign from FC Copenhagen, whilst FLW exclusively revealed that the Bluebirds have joined Old Firm rivals, Celtic and Rangers, in the race to sign Sheffield Wednesday's highly-rated shot-stopper, Pierce Charles.

Regardless, the club will hope to reconsolidate their position in the second tier, irrespective of the transfer activity which is to be conducted.