29-year-old emerges as Cardiff City transfer target following Erol Bulut appointment | OneFootball

Cardiff City have been credited with interest in Trabzonspor midfielder Anastasios Bakasetas, Turkish outlet Fotospor has revealed.

This comes just days after Erol Bulut was announced as the new Bluebirds boss, replacing Sabri Lamouchi after his short-term deal in the Welsh capital expired.

The former Fenerbahce manager has made no secret of his intentions to get the ball rolling swiftly, and stated that he is targeting anywhere from eight to 10 fresh acquisitions in a mission to reconstruct the squad and secure a higher league finish next term.

Who is Anastasios Bakasetas?

Bakasetas plays as an attacking midfielder for Turkish outfit Trabzonspor, who signed him from Analyaspor in 2021.

Interestingly, Bulut recruited the Greece captain from AEK Athens while he was in charge of Analyaspor, and bringing the 29-year-old to Wales would represent a real statement of intent as he has tallied 28 goals and 21 assists from just over 100 outings, while also scoring 11 times in 55 appearances for his country.

Bakasetas has surfaced as the key creative kingpin in the Trabzonspor side despite playing in the same team as the likes of Trezeguet and former-Napoli star Marek Hamsik.

In some regards, it is a move that certainly makes a lot of sense.

During his first unveiling to the media, Bulut outlined that Cardiff require work in the midfield and forward areas and Bakasetas definitely fulfill this objective with his impressive goal return, having reportedly been outlined as his first transfer target for the club.

And, not only was Bakasetas initially signed by Bulut for Analyaspor, but indeed, it is also believed that he tried to unite with the midfielder for a second time by launching an attempt to bring him to Fenerbahce later on.

There is clearly a visible connection, make no mistake about it, though the financial framework of any potential deal will likely prove to exclude Cardiff from genuine contention.

It is said that Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan will not accept a bid lower than €7.5 million (£6.5 million), and that figure would have been a tall order to cough up anyway, but Cardiff's current transfer embargo prohibits them from paying transfer fees at all.

The club have been battling to appeal this ruling courtesy of Bulut's ambitious transfer strategy, however, it does not appear like that will be lifted anytime soon, leaving the Bluebirds to shop in the market of free agents and loan players for the time being.

Any possible deal would be hinged upon Bakasetas' own desire to up sticks and join a club who only narrowly fought off relegation to League One last season, too, but the attempt to leverage connections will excite supporters nonetheless.

They will be hoping that this recruitment philosophy continues in the near future, with Bulut's additional links to Greece and Germany providing the possibility of identifying unknown, lower-cost talent in a less-coveted market in comparison to the British transfer mill.