CARDIFF LAUNCH BID FOR STRIKER ILIC
CITY IN TALKS WITH NORWEGIAN CLUB OVER POWERFUL SERBIAN FRONT MAN
CARDIFF City have launched a bid for Valarenga striker Andrej Ilic, according to reports in Norway.
The Serbian forward, 23, scored 11 goals in 16 games last season, including nine in 13 Eliteserien appearances for the Oslo-based club.
Norwegian channel TV 2 claim Cardiff and Valarenga are locked in negotiations over the player’s transfer after the Welsh side launched a “big bid” for the player.
French team Toulouse had registered an interest in this window, too, but subsequently signed Shavy Babicka from Aris Limassol, with Valarenga’s asking price for Ilic cited as the reason they moved on.
Cardiff are said to be in the “driver’s seat” regarding a deal for the Serbia youth international, who scored 42 goals and provided 17 assists for RFS in 87 appearances for the Latvian team before earning his move to the Norwegian top flight.
That being said, the Championship would represent a major step up in quality.
Fellow Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt are also said to have shown an interest in the 6ft 2ins striker, however it appears the Bluebirds are in deeper negotiations with the player.
Valarenga were relegated from the top flight last season and it is understood the forward wants to play at a higher level.
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut has spoken about the need to pivot in this transfer window, having to jump from Plan A to Plan B because he wants to get deals over the line quickly.
Speaking on Thursday about transfers and strikers, Bulut said: “I cannot wait on just one player and get him on January 31, because if not then I have nothing. I have to fix my deals before.
“I have to go to other players. If I don’t get this striker, I have to go to the second one, third one, fourth one. Whichever one I get quick, I will do that.
“Maybe the quality there is not the quality I had as my first choice, but then I take my second one and I have a player I can use.
“At the end if I was waiting for my first choice and I don’t get him then I don’t have anything.
“It’s all small details with all the players.
“That’s why we try, sometimes it’s not finance. Sometimes it is. Many small details.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff City youngster Cian Ashford has been rewarded for his standout performances for both the under-21s and the first team with a new contract with the Bluebirds.
Bulut has spoken about securing the club’s long-term future and has handed out a number of new deals to senior players as well as the likes of Joel Colwill and Eli King, who predominantly have played in the under21s while at the club.
And Ashford, 19, has now joined that cohort after putting pen to paper on a new deal which will keep him with the Bluebirds until June 2027 at l;east.