Chris Willock: The clear winners from Cardiff City's summer transfer window so far | OneFootball

Football League World takes a look at the winners from Cardiff's transfer window so far

Cardiff City's 2024 summer transfer window is showing early signs of going down as a real success.

The Bluebirds need to conduct extensive squad surgery if they're to realise their own ambitions of competing for Premier League football next term, with last season's respectable 12th-placed finish representing a marked improvement on previous positions and solid developmental foundations to build from, while also papering over some notable cracks in Erol Bulut's side.

Even rock-bottom outfit Rotherham United outscored Cardiff's paltry return of 25 open-play goals, which reveals Bulut's own shortage of attacking tactical acumen on occasion, the urgency of recruiting a reliable source of goals and supplementing greater creativity from midfield and out wide, with inventive service coming as a real premium despite City's unrivaled efficiency from set-play situations.

Strides are already being taken to address the dearth of consistent, high-quality chance creation with the acquisition of Chris Willock, who arrived last week on a free transfer following his departure from Championship rivals QPR. While not as pressing an issue, Cardiff are also shoring up defensively by picking up Calum Chambers - again on a free transfer - with the versatile three-cap England international defender possessing outstanding pedigree by spending his entire career in the Premier League before moving to the Welsh capital.

All things considered, it is both hoped and hotly-expected that Cardiff will bolster their squad further during the coming weeks, but there are already some early winners emerging from the club's summer transfer window...

Chris Willock

Although Cardiff's first capture of the window is undoubtedly a statement of intent that supporters had thought was beyond their means, Willock himself has done well to seal a switch to Wales.

Cardiff finished six points above QPR last season and will undoubtedly have offered a more lucrative contract than what was on the table at Loftus Road, while they're also anticipated to challenge for the play-offs next season - an ambition which you feel may just be a step too far for the R's next time around despite the positive progression heeded by Marti Cifuentes since his arrival last October.

It would also be too far to state that Cardiff are among the promotion favourites, but they do have the overarching objective of returning to the Premier League and, if all goes well, they'll be expected to get there in the coming years and the tricky winger should play an influential role in such proceedings.

Ebou Adams

Meanwhile, Ebou Adams' permanent transfer to newly-promoted Derby County is a real positive for all involved. The Gambian international endured a tough time at the Cardiff City Stadium, failing to feature at all in his first campaign after arriving from Forest Green Rovers owing to a freak injury sustained in pre-season before finding himself firmly out of favour under Bulut, who was, incredibly, his fifth manager since joining, but the first he actually played under.

Adams started on just four occasions in the Championship prior to securing a loan switch to Derby in the January transfer window, helping the Rams to automatic promotion from League One and becoming a real Pride Park fan favourite in the process.

It was little surprise, then, that Derby persistently pursued Adams, and they've now landed their man in a deal that will net Cardiff an initial £500,000 outlay including a range of add-on sweeteners that could eventually see it rise to closer to £1m.

Adams will be glad to put his spell at Cardiff behind him and join a club where he thrived last season, and Cardiff will be glad to to receive profit on a player who was a free transfer signing and on the fringes for next year. It's a success for all parties.