Cardiff City should try and repeat Harry Wilson, Nat Phillips success by striking January Liverpool FC agreement | OneFootball

Cardiff have reaped the rewards from a few Liverpool loans in the past, success which could be repeated by signing Jayden Danns in January

Cardiff City's success in the loan market over the last few years has been well-documented and agreements with Liverpool have proved particularly fruitful - with their current striking woes in mind, they must look to repeat those exploits.

Once again, the Bluebirds find themselves sorely lacking in the goalscoring department - save for a resurgent Callum Robinson, of course - having neglected to tangibly address perennial problems at the top-end of the pitch during a mixed and inconsistent summer transfer.

They managed to attract a number of big names to the Cardiff City Stadium, such as Callum Chambers, Anwar El Ghazi and ex-QPR playmaker Chris Willock, but ultimately fell short of adding pace and goals in the final-third, a widely-deemed failure which has pronounced itself thus far in the Championship.

Cardiff are guilty of quite possibly putting their eggs all into one basket with the loan signing of Wilfried Kanga, who is still yet to open his account from 12 league matches after arriving from Hertha Berlin. It would come as no surprise to see Kanga recalled by Hertha Berlin in January, having fallen out of favour under interim boss Omer Riza.

Kanga has faced increased pressure and scrutiny as he represents the sole striker Cardiff signed for this season back in the summer, with highly-rated Croatia youth international Roko Simic immediately heading out on loan to sister club KV Kortrijk following his arrival from Red Bull Salzburg.

Cardiff left it late in the window before completing the signing of Simic, whom many rightly expected to be involved in the first-team given the shortage of options available to Erol Bulut at the time. They could've hardly helped injuries to their existing crop, and it was a significant blow when both Kion Etete and Isaak Davies suffered long-term set-backs in pre-season ahead of their potential respective 'make or break' campaigns in the Welsh capital.

Robinson is the only 'available' proven goalscorer at this level at Cardiff's disposal right now.

The Republic of Ireland international has more combined goals and assists across the Championship than any other player in the City squad and has already added five to his tally this season, but an ongoing Achilles problem is restricting his involvement and recruiting another striker to offer meaningful competition while simultaneously lessening the burden which rests upon his shoulders is crucial if Cardiff are to finish in a respectable position come the end of the campaign.

Cardiff City should sign Liverpool youngster Jayden Danns

It's not yet clear how deep Vincent Tan considers making his pockets for the next transfer window, meaning at this moment in time exploring potential loan options feels like a safer port of call.

With that in mind, Liverpool's hotshot striker Jayden Danns would represent a realistic, attainable, and applicable option. The 18-year-old is held in extremely high regard at Anfield, having made an emphatic breakthrough to the senior game last season.

The young forward marked only his third professional outing with a brace off the bench against Southampton to inspire a 3-0 FA Cup win back in February, made all the more impressive by the fact Saints were at near full strength - barring Joe Lumley in goal.

A mightily prolific goalscorer for Liverpool at age-group level, Danns is evidently ready to earn his stripes in senior football on a consistent basis and was lined up for a summer move. According to TEAMtalk, Championship rivals Plymouth Argyle were among the sides interested in striking a loan agreement for Danns, whom Wayne Rooney is believed to be a "big admirer" of.

However, Argyle's hopes of getting the deal over the line were dashed when Danns sustained a back injury at the beginning of August, which prevented him from heading out of Anfield on loan.

Nonetheless, Alan Nixon reported via his exclusive Patreon service that Liverpool were set to run the rule over the prospect across the coming months and decide whether to sanction a temporary exit in January, dependent on the amount of game time he receives.

As of yet, Danns is yet to feature under Arne Slot and a loan move would seem extremely likely. There are many young strikers on the fringes of Premier League squads in need of minutes elsewhere, but the young forward represents one of the more intriguing candidates for Cardiff.

Quick off the mark with a tendency to get in behind defences, Danns would give Cardiff the sort of profile they only really have in the form of the injured Davies, allowing them to stretch opponents and be more direct. He's clearly a natural goalscorer, too, and with Cardiff's hit rate in the top-flight loan market, it feels like a sensible potential signing on paper.

Cardiff City's success with Harry Wilson, Nat Phillips on loan from Liverpool could help

You would expect a number of second-tier suitors to be asking questions about Danns' availability on loan for the rest of the season, but Cardiff could have an added advantage to put on the table.

The likes of Jaden Philogene, Cody Drameh, Tommy Doyle, and Ryan Giles transpired as real stars during their spells on loan at Cardiff, although the club haven't struck a better relationship with one single team in terms of loan success than Liverpool.

Cardiff have signed three players on loan from Liverpool in the last four years, and at least two of those were undoubted successes. Only back in January, Cardiff leveraged a potential relationship at play by striking a deal for central defender Nat Phillips, who was largely impressive during the second half of the season and gave Erol Bulut's side increased defensive solidity for the most part.

Going back a few years now, they pulled off a head-turning statement of intent on the final day of the delayed 2020 summer window with the loan signing of Harry Wilson, whose stock was extremely high at the time. Cardiff beat off 10 clubs including bitter rivals Swansea City for his services and their clear perseverance was duly rewarded throughout the season, where the maverick Wales international playmaker scored seven goals and assisted 11 more.

Thanks to Cardiff, Liverpool were able to make optimal profit on the academy graduate by selling him to Fulham for £12 million the following year.

Wilson and Phillips are the most outstanding success stories, but they're not the only Liverpool loanees who've done well at Cardiff either. In the same window as the arrival of Wilson, Sheyi Ojo came in on loan and ended up scoring five times and assisting seven in a fairly impressive campaign for the Bluebirds, although it's perhaps not worth mentioning how much of a contrast his career with the club was when they resigned him permanently in the summer of 2022.

To dig further into recent history, combative Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic joined on loan from the Reds in January 2018 and played a role in their promotion under Neil Warnock. There is clearly some sort of relationship there with Liverpool, who have seen time and time again how Cardiff can develop their players, and the Bluebirds must look to make maximum use of that by bringing in Danns.