Stoke City and Rangers will share Cardiff City transfer regret - ‘£20m-25m’ star could be Premier League-bound | OneFootball

Dylan Lawlor has been tipped to make his way to the top-flight by many Bluebirds fans

In the past decade or so, many high-level clubs have begun to stand up and take note of the many hidden gems plying their trade within the EFL.

The Championship, League One and League Two have all become hotbeds for talent, with the respective 'home nations' international sides also flourishing as a result of rapid and successful development.

They may have had to take a step back in order to move forward once more, but one club certainly flying the flag within the third-tier on this front are Cardiff City.

It is perhaps no surprise such developments have taken place in this part of South Wales either. Indeed, the Bluebirds' newly-appointed head coach, Brian Barry-Murphy, has vast experience when it comes to overseeing the rise of many young talents, particularly at the recently dominant Premier League force of Manchester City, where he was manager of the North West club's Elite Development Squad between July 2021 and August 2024.

Despite being one of the so-called 'bigger fish' in League One when taking recent pedigree into account, which includes a season in the Premier League as recently as 2018/19, the chequebooks weren't exactly flowing at the Cardiff City Stadium over the summer. Instead, there has been an even greater onus on developing a pathway from academy level into the first-team on a regular basis.

And, it's fair to say that Cardiff have certainly served two clubs a feeling of transfer regret, whilst Welsh international and one of the EFL's starring prospects, Dylan Lawlor, continues to flourish at the heart of their defence.

It is always a great pleasure amongst supporters of any club when 'one of their own' completes the journey of dedication through relevant academy age groups and into the first-team fold.

In Lawlor's case, it was certainly a momentous occasion for him to make his senior bow, doing so in last season's FA Cup fifth round clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park under the management of Omer Riza, albeit Unai Emery's European regulars would emerge 2-0 victors in the end.

"I'm really pleased for Dylan, he's had a great debut, with Perry (Ng) and Dimi (Goutas) either side of him which helped him - and it's a great start to his career at senior level," Riza said.

With Cardiff's relegation to League One confirmed, club icon and interim boss Aaron Ramsey then handed the 19-year-old his league bow with a 57-minute cameo in a 4-2 defeat to Norwich City on the final day of the 2024/25 season.

Despite playing just 138 minutes of senior action, it was clear that Lawlor's trajectory was only seen as going one way, which sparked transfer interest from clubs higher up the food chain, or in the case of Rangers, a potential opportunity for minutes in Europe.

Rather ironically, the centre-back's progression had clearly been noted by ex-Swansea City boss, Russell Martin, who was sacked at Ibrox in October, as well as Stoke City, RB Salzburg and unnamed clubs in both Denmark and Spain.

All the aforementioned destinations would have certainly represented intriguing moves with a handful of differing pros and cons. But, it is clear that Cardiff and Lawlor are both reaping the rewards from his decision to remain loyal to the Welsh side, which was evidenced by the penning of a new three-year contract on August 27th.

Despite making less than 20 senior appearances for the Bluebirds so far, Lawlor's rapid progress has already seen him force his way into Craig Bellamy's plans at national level, with the ex-City forward also waxing lyrical over the starlet after a dominant display in a 1-0 win over Kazahkstan on September 4th.

Such talk doesn't surprise those who watch the youngster week-in, week-out, though, as he remains an integral factor behind why Cardiff sit top of League One with 32 points from 16 games whilst having the second-meanest defence in the division, conceding just 15 times - only four more than second-place Stevenage.

This has all been achieved whilst the Irishman has a core of extremely energetic and composed figures, despite the fact Cardiff have the second-youngest squad in the division by average age ahead of Peterborough United.

With Lawlor impressing alongside the likes of Rubin Colwill, Yousef Salech and fellow local boy-turned-teenage Bluebirds sensation, Ronan Kpakio, Football League World's Cardiff City fan pundit, Matt Hall, previously stated that the defender could net the club as much as £25m.

"He's got everything you could want. He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's a good age, passing-wise, he passes better than a lot of our midfielders. I think a side will be looking at him now, and he will be a £20-25 million sale," Hall said.

"He's the sort of profile that a lot of sides will like. Maybe his size would be a disadvantage, he'd probably suit a back three more and I think he would absolutely smash Serie A, so I could see that happening.

"I think he's the sort of player that doesn't come around often, certainly not at League One level. Speaking of League One, I think him bulking up and getting more physically adapted to a style of football that you see in League One will stand him in good stead as far as development goes," he added.

"I hope we don't lose him too soon, but I think he will be a massive, massive sale for the club."

Given the fact that Cardiff are hoping to have a similar end goal to the previous third-tier rebuilding jobs at Ipswich Town and Birmingham City, it's no surprise that locals want to see Lawlor remain at the CCS for many years. However, with finances a key aspect of the modern game, they would be just as thankful if he generated an eight-figure windfall, which is expected of both Lawlor and Kpakio - two talents earmarked as future Premier League superstars - before long.