Cardiff City urged to snub transfer exit for "outrageously talented" Rubin Colwill | OneFootball

Rubin Colwill has stepped up for the Bluebirds this season and is bound to attract transfer interest in January

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...

Cardiff City have been told to avoid selling Rubin Colwill in the January transfer window if any interest in his signature emerges as a result of his standout form in the Welsh capital.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has been on Cardiff's books since the age of 10, and is currently as influential as he has ever been on the Bluebirds' senior team since his first breakthrough nearly four years ago.

Colwill has always been the nearly man in seasons gone by at the Cardiff City Stadium, with clear talent and ability but not much to show for it on the pitch, yet this term has seen him grow into a key player under interim boss Omer Riza.

As a result, it has been deemed imperative that he is not sold on in the new year, especially with the Bluebirds set to face a tough battle for survival at the wrong end of the table if things don't improve quickly.

Cardiff fan pundit insists against a January exit for Rubin Colwill

Colwill is well out in front of his teammates in terms of combined goals and assists in all competitions so far this season, and his performance against Plymouth Argyle on October 19 was particularly impressive, as he bagged the second goal and laid on assists for the first and third strikes in a 5-0 thrashing of the Pilgrims.

The Neath-born number ten has previously attracted reported transfer interest from Premier League giants Arsenal, while Ipswich Town were also claimed to be among his admirers in the summer, but he stayed put at the Cardiff City Stadium for this term.

His form over the last few months will surely have alerted even more top sides to his availability in the next transfer window, and FLW's Bluebirds fan pundit, Jack Price, identified Colwill when we asked him for one player that he believes the club can simply not afford to lose in January, if transfer interest does emerge.

“I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but it simply has to be Rubin Colwill. I don’t think there is any other answer," Jack told FLW.

“He is outrageously talented, and that has been the case for a while, but now he is growing in confidence and importance.

“He has gone from being a bit of a luxury player, in my opinion, to becoming instrumental and the real centre-piece to an attack which is finally beginning to thrive.

“His influence against Plymouth Argyle was something to behold. It was the best performance of his Cardiff career – he scored one, set-up two and completely ran the show.

“The reality is that this is what we have been seeing from Colwill for some time, just without the goals and assists.

“Now that he’s added that final ball to his game, I think we are probably going to be in some trouble when it comes to retaining him.

“It’s a bit of a paradox because, obviously every time he plays well for Cardiff, it's great for us fans and for the team, but it is also naturally going to grow the interest from other clubs that he probably already has.

“There have been a few clubs linked with him in the past, notably Ipswich Town. You would expect that there will be new clubs with interest in January if he continues like this.

“It is starting to look like he is too good for Cardiff. I think soon we will be asking if he is too good for the Championship, full-stop.

“He is frighteningly talented. We can’t afford to lose him, though, because everything flows through him when he is on song, which is more often than not recently.

“He brings others into the game, he creates chances at will, he progresses us up the pitch, and he is now defining games with goals and assists.

“My advice to Cardiff would be to turn down all offers in January. See where Colwill can get us to, and then come the summer, if he wants a big move, sell him for the right price.

“We will have to wait and see. I really hope we don’t come close to losing him.”

Colwill has earned high praise from a Cardiff club legend

It is pretty clear that the Bluebirds will not want to lose Colwill at all costs anytime soon, but the longer his decent form continues, the more interest he will undoubtedly garner from bigger clubs.

His recent performances in the face of adversity, regarding Erol Bulut's reluctance to hand him a starting berth and Cardiff's dismal start to the season, have arguably seen more eyes laid on him than ever, and Bluebirds club legend Sean Morrison believes he has the potential to fetch a huge fee when he is eventually sold on.

"(Rubin Colwill has) got the potential to be a £20m player, £30m player," he said on The Central Club podcast, via Wales Online.

"He's got everything. And his little brother is just as good as well! His little brother is on loan at Cheltenham. He is a good player as well."

That sort of praise from a Cardiff hero like Morrison can not be understated, and going off what he believes, having played with him for two seasons from 2020 to 2022, it would make little sense for the club to sell the 22-year-old on in January for what would be a fraction of that potential fee.