Cardiff City: Steve Morison didn't stop chasing Aston Villa agreement - it proved a masterstroke | OneFootball

Steve Morison landed Jaden Philogene at the second time of trying, and his dedication came up trumps for Cardiff City

While at Cardiff City, Steve Morison was relentless in his pursuit of Jaden Philogene from Aston Villa, and he eventually landed his target in an agreement which proved to be a complete masterstroke.

Morison conducted an overhaul during his stay with the Bluebirds and unsuccessfully implemented a more progressive-minded, possession-based approach while undertaking significant squad surgery, which saw no less than 17 new acquisitions arrive at the Cardiff City Stadium heading into the 2022/23 Championship campaign.

Naturally, Cardiff's transfer window in the summer of 2022 - which set a heavy emphasis on free transfers - yielded a variety of results. The less said about Jack Simpson, Vontae Daley-Campbell and Sheyi Ojo the better. At the other end of the spectrum, mind you, Morison played a few blinders; Cedric Kipre was a colossus at the back while on loan from West Bromwich Albion, Callum O'Dowda and Callum Robinson are still starring for City to this day and Ollie Tanner has made Cardiff's £50,000 investment look like chump change.

Morison had to push particularly hard to acquire Philogene, though, and his persistence was richly vindicated long after his controversial September sacking, as the winger provided box-office entertainment in a season which otherwise so sorely lacked exactly that for Cardiff.

Steve Morison tried twice for Aston Villa's Jaden Philogene at Cardiff City

After completing the signing of Philogene on a season-long loan deal from the Villains, Morison revealed that Cardiff had plotted a move in January but missed out to Championship rivals Stoke City.

Cardiff, of course, still managed to enjoy undoubted success in that January window by utilising the loan market alternatively to bring in both Tommy Doyle and Cody Drameh from Manchester City and Leeds United, and Morison finally landed the attacking prodigy in August as one of the last signings of his rebuild with the Bluebirds.

"I’m really happy. He’s someone we earmarked and looked at in January, but it wasn’t meant to be," Morison told Cardiff's official website.

"We monitored him, and he became available this summer. We’ve got good relationships with a lot of clubs, so it was a deal that we wanted to do, and they wanted to do as well.

"Villa want to keep him on because they like him, so if he’s good enough for them, he’s good enough for us. It’s great for our depth, and great for competition.

"I’m excited with the wide players we have at our disposal now, and I think everyone else should be as well."

Jaden Philogene was sensational for Cardiff City

Philogene's loan stay with the Bluebirds was very much one of two halves; Mark Hudson, Morison's successor, neglected to hand the requisite creative freedom to optimise the ultra-talented winger, but he grew in confidence, delivery and quality following the mid-season appointment of Sabri Lamouchi.

Unfancied and peripheral at one stage, Philogene eventually became Cardiff's orchestrator in-chief, offering both heartbeat and genuine X-Factor to their attacks. Granted, he could frustrate and did blow hot and cold on occasions, but while at full throttle, he was captivating and breathtaking with the ball at his feet.

He displayed a simply magical, maverick ability to stand defenders up and beat them on the inside, outside, or however he wanted to, at almost any given moment, and it was otherworldly for City at the time.

With the raw pace to burn past his marker alongside the deftness of touch, natural agility and spatial awareness to evade opponents in improbable tight pockets of space, Philogene's mesmerising ball-carrying qualities were on another level to virtually any other player in the Championship.

Perhaps the single most naturally talented individual to play for Cardiff for many a year, the only slight on Philogene's electrifying year in the Welsh capital was the fact he scored just four league goals. Of course, though, the context has to be considered and he was still learning on the job that year, playing for a side who flip-flopped between contrasting tactical styles and struggled greatly all season long.

The England youth international truly exploded at Hull City last season, displaying the direct goal involvement numbers needed to accompany his dizzying natural ability. He scored twelve times in the Championship before earning a permanent switch back to Villa, where he's sure to enjoy a glittering career right at the very top of the game.

How differently it could've all played out, then, had Morison not been quite so persistent.