Cardiff City hit the transfer jackpot - and laughed at Middlesbrough's face in the process | OneFootball

Cardiff City hit the jackpot with the signing of Kieffer Moore from Wigan Athletic, beating off competition from Middlesbrough.

Back in the summer transfer window of 2020, Cardiff City pulled off one of the deals of the window in the Championship with the signing of Kieffer Moore – and it is one that would have immensely frustrated one of their divisional rivals at the time.

Having come through the academy at hometown club Torquay United, Moore began his career with Truro City and Dorchester Town before stepping up the divisions down in the south west with a move to then second-tier outfit Yeovil Town, who had just won a surprise promotion to the Championship.

Moore leapt from the Conference South to the Championship very quickly, and, despite failing to score too many goals for the Glovers, did get a burgeoning reputation as a player of immense promise, with his physical attributes, standing at 6 ft 5 in, catching the eye alongside a very good touch.

He departed Yeovil for Norway with a move to Viking but his short and underwhelming stint in Scandinavia was cut short with a return the west country, joining Forest Green Rovers, underwhelming with FGR and moving back to Torquay on loan for a period.

That stint with Torquay brought about some improved form and that form prompted a still bizarre and surprise move back to the Championship with a return to Ipswich Town.

Moore never quite hit the ground running in his 18-month stint at Portman Road, with the end of that stint seeing him spent time on loan at Rotherham United – and truly flourish.

After an impressive stint with the Millers, Barnsley poached him andhe continued to thrive in South Yorkshire ahead of a move across the Pennines, joining Wigan Athletic.

While with Wigan, Moore established himself in the Wales setup and international level, hitting ten goals in 36 Championship appearances for a Paul Cook-coached Latics side that pulled off a miraculous escape from relegation when in administration behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wigan fire sale ensued that summer, though, and Moore was perhaps the hottest of Wigan-owned properties – and it would be Cardiff that managed to poach the big striker.

Cardiff hit the jackpot with Kieffer Moore deal

Wigan’s summer of forced sales saw the Latics part ways with Jensen Weir, Leon Balogun, Alfie Devine, Joe Gelhardt, Chey Dunkley, Lewis Macleod, Joe Williams, Antonee Robinson, David Marshall, Jamal Lowe, Josh Windass, Cedric Kipre, Nathan Byrne and Samy Morsy.

For a fee of just £2 million, Moore was a prized asset, though, and, despite keen interest from Middlesbrough, Cardiff were able to welcome him back down towards the south west with a move to the Cardiff City Stadium.

The Bluebirds finished eighth in the 2020/21 season, with Kieffer Moore finishing as their top scorer with 20 goals – his best season tally to that point in his career.

The Welshman notched a match-winning brace against Nottingham Forest in his second appearance for the club before a stop-start campaign, due to a loss of form and a few injuries, saw him manage just eight by the end of January.

However, following the appointment of Mick McCarthy, who was in charge of Ipswich when Moore joined in 2017, Moore truly found his stride and went on to play an invaluable role in Cardiff suffering just three defeats in their final 22 games of the campaign – a run in which Moore added 12 to his tally.

Middlesbrough looked on enviously at Cardiff over Kieffer Moore

In that same season, Middlesbrough finished tenth but their top scorer managed just nine Championship goals; that being versatile attacker Duncan Watmore.

In terms of an out and out striker, Britt Assombalonga managed the most strikes for ‘Boro with five goals and, having finished just four points behind Cardiff in the eventually disappointing pursuit of the play-offs, there will always be a feeling for the Smoggies about ‘what if’ they had had Moore as their main source in attack – especially with the management of Neil Warnock.

The same profligacy in the final third was shown at the Riverside in the following campaign as Matt Crooks finished as their top scorer with ten league goals, while Moore would find himself cashed in on by Cardiff.

Despite a broken foot, AFC Bournemouth opted to fork out £5 million for Moore in January 2022 and the Welshman proved pivotal for the Cherries.

Moore was unavailable until the final four games of that campaign but eventually featured in three of them – scoring a point-saving brace to rescue a 3-3 draw with Cardiff’s arch-rivals Swansea City before match-winning goals against Nottingham Forest and Millwall to secure Bournemouth’s automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

As Cardiff battled, Bournemouth and Kieffer Moore were promoted to the top-flight but the Bluebirds at least earned themselves a hefty profit on an 18-month stint – and they still got to see the very best of Moore at the Cardiff City Stadium, while ‘Boro continued to flounder and frustrate due to a lack of real efficiency in the final third – something he could have provided.