Gary Madine features: Cardiff City 's 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times | OneFootball

Cardiff City have made some rather costly blunders in the transfer market over the years

Cardiff City will be desperately hoping that none of their recent recruits from the summer transfer window replicate the fate of those before them, with the Bluebirds having an unfortunate track record when it comes to big-name or big-money signings.

Although the financial purse-strings have been considerably tightened in recent years for a multitude of factors - particularly in regards to transfer fees - there is still pressure and expectation for Cardiff's latest arrivals to return the club's investment.

It does mean that the consequences of disappointment are perhaps not as harshly-felt as they have been in years gone by, though, and Cardiff have made some bitterly-frustrating signings that supporters rightly rue to this day.

With that in mind, then, Football League World has decided to summarise five transfer flops, listed in order and without the inclusion of loan players, at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Josh Murphy

Getting the ball rolling here is Josh Murphy, who was signed from Norwich City for an £11m fee upon their second voyage into the Premier League back in 2018.

It is somewhat ironic that Murphy's best performances came in the top-flight that year, where Cardiff were immediately relegated under Neil Warnock. The winger tormented top-level full-backs at will during the first half of the season but was plagued by inconsistency and never matched those heights again in a Bluebirds shirt.

A lot went against Murphy during his time in the Welsh capital. Cardiff had a high managerial turnover yet not one knew how to get the best out of his undoubted talent or accommodate him from a tactical standpoint, small-scale injury setbacks were not exactly infrequent and the ex-England youth international was unfortunately judged from his price tag.

Evidently an outstanding talent full of trickery and flair when at full throttle, Cardiff overpaid for Murphy in the first instance and that is ultimately where the judgement will come from, rightly or wrongly.

But, having been signed for £11m and released on a free transfer four years later, Cardiff never saw a consistent or viable return on their investment despite Murphy's occasional showings of sheer brilliance.

This season, Cardiff could well face Murphy for the first time since his exit after he recently joined newly-promoted Portsmouth following his exit from Oxford United, who he led back to the Championship last term.

Andreas Cornelius

Perhaps the most unforgettable of Cardiff's duds in the market, Andreas Cornelius' brief stay in Wales was short-lived and highly disappointing.

The Danish frontman, who finished as the top goalscorer in the Danish top-flight at just 20 years of age the previous season, signed with Cardiff in the summer of 2014 for a then-club record fee of £7.5m and on a five-year contract.

The deal proved to be a nightmare for both parties, though. Injuries played a part as Cornelius made just 11 appearances before being sent back to FC Kobenhavn in January, and he has since gone on to enjoy a successful career, which does make you wonder whether the Bluebirds should have persisted with the striker for a bit longer.

He has turned out for the likes of Atalanta, Parma and Trabzonspor while earning 46 caps for the Denmark national team, but he never got going at Cardiff and both the player and the club in question will be keen to forget the move ever happened.

Gary Madine

Cardiff has often been described as a career graveyard for strikers - and Gary Madine may just testify for that school of thought.

Madine was in white-hot form when Cardiff decided to pay a reported £6m sum to Bolton Wanderers on deadline day in January 2018, and he was expected to supply the firepower needed to help them over the line in their promotion bid.

Cardiff, of course, did gain promotion that season. Madine, however, played a very limited role. He did contribute to two assists but failed to find the back of the net despite scoring 10 times for Bolton by the time Cardiff signed him, and he was promptly loaned out to Sheffield United in the Bluebirds' top-flight campaign.

The Bluebirds took one last attempt at trying to get Madine firing as he was handed a few opportunities in the 2019/20 season, but alas, his miserable form in front of goal continued. Madine left Cardiff without a single goal from 28 appearances and is now plying his trade with Hartlepool United in the National League at the age of 34.

Leandro Bacuna

Cardiff's Leandro Bacuna blunder was less costly in terms of the transfer fee they shelled out for his services, although he was still a major disappointment and was likely not coming cheap on wages either.

According to reports, Cardiff paid £3m to sign Bacuna from Reading in January 2019 and the ex-Aston Villa midfielder was brought in to - somehow - help them avoid the drop.

Bacuna did not actually offer too bad of an account in the Premier League, but both performances and application began to deteriorate following relegation - go figure.

His attitude and application became a real sticking point among supporters and Bacuna did not offer nearly enough at any point during his time with the club.

He never played again for Cardiff after being sent off for a horrendous scything challenge on Bournemouth's Phillip Billing in a 3-0 defeat on the south coast in the 2021/22 campaign and is now back in the Netherlands with FC Groningen.

Javi Guerra

To finish off, Javi Guerra is an exception of sorts given that he arrived on a free transfer as part of a pre-contract arrangement that was made between Cardiff and Real Valladolid while they were still in the Premier League in 2014, so the financial ramifications were not quite as devastating in comparison to some of the aforementioned.

However, that does not detract from the disappointment that was felt when Guerra failed to find his feet despite possessing quite outstanding pedigree for the Championship, which was where Cardiff were playing by the time that the Spanish striker arrived in South Wales.

He never felt settled and was quite possibly - and not unjustifiably - regretting his decision to turn out in the second-tier. Guerra scored 15 times in LaLiga throughout the 2013/14 campaign but only appeared in the Championship on three occasions and failed to score before making a swift return to Spain in the January window.

Guerra scored five goals for Malaga on loan and completed a permanent exit by joining Rayo Vallecano that summer, where he returned with twelve top-flight strikes from 30 appearances in 2015/16.

A seasoned and talented top-flight goalscorer, Guerra failed to translate his esteemed experience and clear quality at Cardiff, albeit with very minimal opportunity, and for that he simply has to round off the list.