Cardiff City should lean on Robertson, Doyle factor to land Man City striker | OneFootball

Cardiff City should utilise their Manchester City track record to land another player from the reigning Premier League champions

Cardiff City have struck gold with more than one Manchester City transfer agreement in years gone by, and they would benefit from taking full advantage of that track record and potential relationship between the two sides to land yet another promising young talent from the reigning Premier League champions.

Supporters will hope for full steam ahead as far as Cardiff's transfer business is confirmed, with a number of additions desperately required if the Bluebirds are to alleviate genuine fears of relegation to League One.

Unfortunately, the precarious position in which Cardiff find themselves in is no longer unchartered territory. Indeed, it's now the third season spent battling against relegation in just four years, with a mid-table finish under Erol Bulut last term proving an anomaly to an otherwise-rotten recent history.

Omer Riza voiced his intention to bring three or four signings to the Cardiff City Stadium at the start of the window, with additional attacking firepower eyed accordingly, and Divin Mubama should be on the club's transfer radar - they could even have an advantage to land his services, one would like to imagine.

Cardiff City's striking woes should open up transfer attempt for Man City's Divin Mubama

Cardiff's goalscoring woes require little introduction, truth be told, with the side faced with a continued shortage in both quality and personnel at the top-end of the pitch. Top scorer Callum Robinson represents the only real, consistent and proven source of goals in this side at the minute, but his fitness record is less convincing and suggests he shouldn't be tasked with solely manning the burden.

It would be nonsensical if Cardiff were to come out of the window without a new striker, especially given Wilfried Kanga's goalless loan spell is surely all-but set to conclude, only adding to the need for bodies, and the clear hunt should lead them right to Mubama.

Riza has also expressed his desire to utilise the Premier League loan market, which Cardiff stopped short of doing in the summer under Bulut, and Mubama would be an interesting option if City decide to make him available.

The 20-year-old is currently contracted to Pep Guardiola's side, who picked him up in the summer from West Ham United. Mubama had accumulated a mightily-impressive record in youth football during his stay in East London and, after returning from an initial injury, he has continued to play in City's age-group set-up - although it's clear for all to see he's outgrown the level by this stage.

Mubama, of course, isn't going to be displacing Norwegian kingpin Erling Haaland anytime soon. He's yet to make his debut for City but was named in the matchday squad for Premier League outings against Leicester, Everton and fierce cross-city rivals Manchester United during the month of December.

Guardiola, who is enduring a rare nightmare campaign at the Etihad Stadium this term, is also short of strikers behind Haaland, which could mean City keep hold of Mubama simply for depth purposes until brokering a deal for a fresh forward.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, that's for sure. But Mubama needs to be playing first-team football, be that with the Citizens or elsewhere, Cardiff just so happen to be calling out for a striker and could do far, far worse than cashing in on their connections to land yet another young starlet from the blue side of Manchester.

Tommy Doyle, Alex Robertson factor could help Cardiff City land Man City's Divin Mubama

It would be no surprise to see interest across the second-tier emerging in Mubama's signature - should City elect to make that call - but Cardiff, in spite of their lowly league position and struggles over the last few years, would have a potential, and beneficial, added advantage through the deals that were struck to bring both Tommy Doyle and Alex Robertson to the Welsh capital.

Doyle arrived at Cardiff on loan at this stage of the 2021/22 campaign, where the Bluebirds were battling against the drop under Steve Morison at the time. Having endured a miserable and brief loan in Germany with Hamburg, Doyle instantly set out to prove a point and was class personified in the middle of the park at Cardiff, with his energy, composure in possession and creative, line-breaking passing making him an indispensable asset as they eventually went some way to see off the threat of relegation.

He's still fondly remembered to this day, and represents one of the finest loan agreements Cardiff have worked up in recent years, having also taken on the likes of Jaden Philogene, Harry Wilson, Ryan Giles and Cody Drameh.

Robertson, meanwhile, is currently with the Bluebirds and has been an outstanding performer all season long after joining from Man City back in the summer for a reported £1 million fee. The 21-year-old, akin to Doyle, it must be said, is a classy and inventive operator in midfield, with his own willingness to dictate the tempo of play while joining attacks proving key qualities in what's been a tough old slog of a season for the side.

Considering Cardiff also worked a deal for Josh Wilson-Esbrand last season, whose stay was unfortunately cut short by injury, you would have to assume there is a positive and strong working relationship at play between the two sides. City clearly trust Cardiff with their talent, having twice loaned players to the CCS three seasons apart, and the Bluebirds have been more than open to taking them.

Cardiff fast-tracked Doyle's development during his stay, and City would hope for a similar impact from Mubama in the event of any potential deal. We're some way off that just yet, and this remains entirely theoretical for the time being, but there's an undeniable factor to be tapped into and Cardiff would be wise to take optimal advantage of it.