Neil Warnock gamble cost Cardiff City £6m and must not be repeated this month | OneFootball

Cardiff City and Neil Warnock made a huge transfer blunder in January 2018 - which must not be repeated this month

Cardiff City find themselves in desperate need of a striker this month, but they must avoid a potential repeat of Neil Warnock's £6 million blunder on Gary Madine, who failed to ever get going and is ultimately remembered as a high-profile flop following his ill-fated arrival from Bolton Wanderers.

This month's window could prove to dictate what division Cardiff end up playing in come August. The Championship relegation battle, which the Bluebirds are fully entrenched in once again this term, is beginning to intensify and, in turn, as is the desperation for incomings.

It's been a bitterly disappointing campaign for Cardiff, who have failed to build upon the stability of last season's respectable 12th-placed finish under Erol Bulut. They're now staring down the barrel of relegation and urgently need to take action by adding to Omer Riza's squad, with a striker undoubtedly a top priority given their difficulties infront of goal.

Cardiff City, Neil Warnock's 2018 Gary Madine transfer blunder

Banging the drum for a new striker in January is nothing new for Cardiff supporters, who have emphasised the need for additional firepower year after year.

Typically, at least over the last few seasons, they have cried out for a striker signing to alleviate the threat of relegation, but in 2018, it was a completely different story as Warnock sounded out a marquee acquisition to spearhead Cardiff's shock promotion push in the back-end of the 2017/18 season.

After missing out on then-Bournemouth striker Lewis Grabban, who later joined promotion rivals Aston Villa on loan, Warnock diverted his attention to a move for Madine from Bolton. The towering frontman had been in inspired form with the Trotters during the first half of the campaign, scoring 10 goals and laying on a further five assists from 29 appearances.

Indeed, little over a month before completing his move to the Cardiff City Stadium, Madine had scored and provided an assist in a 2-0 victory over the Bluebirds.

The reality of how the deal played out is at odds with the logic which carried the move in the first place; Madine, who stands at 6'3, stylistically fit the bill of an archetypal Warnock striker and he had been in impressive form, even putting Cardiff to the sword in a season where they had the Championship's joint-sternest defence - though they were without captain Sean Morrison in that particular fixture.

But it was always a considerable risk to shell out £6 million for his services, and both Cardiff and Warnock never saw good on that gamble. The former Sheffield Wednesday striker laid on two assists but failed to score in any of his 13 league appearances for Cardiff that season, missing a notable stoppage-time penalty against then-title rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Cardiff, of course, gained an emphatic promotion to the Premier League behind Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves at the end of the season, but Madine seldom contributed to such efforts and failed to have the desired impact. It was a long road back for the striker, who was used sparingly in the first half of City's top-flight crusade before enjoying a relatively productive loan stay with Sheffield United as they gained promotion from the Championship.

He then returned to Cardiff to make nine goalless appearances across the Championship and EFL Cup as both Warnock and his successor, Neil Harris, fell short of getting a tune out of the misfiring forward. Harris seemingly didn't have the patience of his predecessor, as Madine's contract was promptly terminated in January 2020, bringing a barren two-year stay to an abrupt end.

Madine left Cardiff with no competitive goals from 28 appearances across all competitions and arguably represents Cardiff's worst business in recent history. They must, then, avoid any potential deal like this one at all costs, with the stakes simply far too high now to make such a costly transfer blunder.

Cardiff City must avoid Neil Warnock's £6m Gary Madine transfer blunder

The reality is that Cardiff and Vincent Tan probably don't have £6 million lying around for a new centre-forward, especially as there's no incentive of potential Premier League football next season.

City are surely going to be taking a close look at quick, short-term and financially efficient fixes in the loan market, as is common practice for sides competing at the wrong end of the division, but one would still expect a permanent signing or two to be made.

Should Cardiff decide to free up funds for a striker, they simply need to be much more cautious and shrewd than they were with the deal for Madine. Their precarious league position means any new signings must, at this stage, hit the ground running rather quickly, which Madine never did.

City sorely need another striker. Top scorer Callum Robinson has, for the large part, performed admirably in difficult circumstances after a miserable old campaign last time out but his fitness record is well-documented and means it's unwise to have him carrying the burden alone, which is the state of play at the minute.

Kion Etete, meanwhile, is just returning from the same pre-season hamstring injury that has kept Isaak Davies out of action for the term's entirety to date, and all three are out of contract come the summer.

Then you've got summer signing Roko Simic, who many will argue has long-term potential after impressing with Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League last season. But his loan spell with Kortrijk, of which he's since been recalled from, was a complete nightmare and it would be a surprise to see him leading the line anytime soon.

It's so important Cardiff sign a striker this month, but getting it right is of equal importance and they couldn't have really gone more wrong with Madine.