"That's not a dig" - Cardiff City claim made on Mark McGuinness after £10m Luton Town move | OneFootball

FLW's Cardiff fan pundit believes they don't miss McGuinness but he is still a top defender

Cardiff City waved goodbye to one of their star performers of last season over the summer months, with Mark McGuinness swapping South Wales for Bedfordshire as he signed for Luton Town.

McGuiness left the Bluebirds after three seasons to join the recently relegated Hatters for a transfer fee that, if all add-ons are met, could be worth £10 million

The 23-year-old centre-back, who has been in and around the Republic of Ireland squad since his move to Kenilworth Road, improved leaps and bounds in his time at the Cardiff City Stadium, but there were some eyebrows raised over the fee spent by Rob Edwards' side.

From a Cardiff perspective, they could have really suffered losing one of their star players from last season, but in recent weeks, they seem to be coping without McGuinness fairly well.

Bold Cardiff City claim issued on Mark McGuinness following Luton Town move

Even though his performances were very good last season on the whole, FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit, Jack Price, does not believe the Bluebirds are missing McGuinness whatsoever.

"To be honest, I don't really think we are missing Mark McGuinness, and that's not a dig at him," Jack told Football League World.

"We did very well to get the money that we collected for McGuiness. It was very good money for a player who wasn't exactly indispensable at the time. He was a very good defender for us for a number of years, but you can't really turn that money down at this level.

"He wasn't quite irreplaceable, but Calum Chambers and Dimitrios Goutas have built up a formidable partnership at the back. They compliment each other really well. Chambers gives you the left-footed option from building at the back, whereas Goutas is more of a massive set-piece threat - he scored a few last year.

"We've also signed Jesper Daland. He's barely had a look in, but he looked top in August in his two appearances versus Swansea City and Middlesbrough.

"He got injured for about a month, and he hasn't been able to get in due to a solid pairing of Goutas and Chambers, and that's just a testament to how good they've been - Daland arguably looks our best defender from what I've seen.

"Even if we had McGuinness, I still don't think he would be starting for us. It's a tough one. Goutas has arguably been Player of the Season so far and Chambers has his spot nailed on. You could only bring him out for Daland, in my opinion.

"McGuiness hasn't had the best start to life at Luton - he's been struggling. Now I've seen him, he doesn't look great. I wouldn't necessarily say we've had Luton's pants down, because, I think he could be worth the £10 million we sold him for.

"I take my hat off to the board for the deal on the whole."

Dimitrios Goutas performances have made Cardiff City forget about Mark McGuinness

Since Erol Bulut's exit as Cardiff manager, Greek centre-back Goutas has come back into the starting 11, and the 6 foot 4 inch defender has been nothing but a revelation in that time.

Goutas was a Bulut signing from Turkish outfit Sivasspor last season on a free, and whilst he had to be patient earlier on this season, finding himself in and out of the starting 11, he now looks to have locked his position down.

And when you factor in Cardiff got as much money as they did for McGuinness, who is not exactly impressing at his new club, and couple that with the fact Daland, Chambers and Goutas cost a combined £3.5 million (Daland was the only one a fee was paid for - the latter pairing were free transfers), the Bluebirds look a lot better off.