Here are your Cardiff City transfer headlines for Friday, May 27.
Arsenal defender Ballard linked with Bluebirds
Cardiff City are among a number of Championship clubs chasing the signature of Arsenal defender Daniel Ballard, according to the Evening Standard.
They claim Millwall, QPR, Burnley, Cardiff, Sheffield United and Stoke City are all interested in signing the Northern Ireland international, 22, this summer. It is reported that Ballard can leave the north London club on a permanent basis if the right offer is made in the coming weeks.
READ MORE : The Darren Purse interview
Cardiff are after a centre-back, it is understood, with Aden Flint, Ciaron Brown and Sean Morrison all out of contract.
However, WalesOnline has been told there is nothing in reports linking them with the defender, who spent last season on loan at Millwall, and he is not a player they are actively pursuing as things stand.
Ballard has two years left on his deal and would likely cost any would-be suitors a decent-sized transfer fee.
Under-23s expect signing within 48 hours
Cardiff City under-23s manager Darren Purse hopes to complete his first signing of the transfer window "within 48 hours", he has told WalesOnline.
First-team manager Steve Morison said he "hoped" there would be an overhaul at under-23s level this summer to complement the mass changes expected at senior level. It is a school of thought Purse also subscribes to. He hopes that Cardiff can convince the right personnel to come in by selling the project and the pathway to the first team.
Purse confirmed he would like up to five new players before the end of the summer and even said the club are on the cusp of getting the first one over the line.
"We know it's going to be a slow process. Under-23s clubs we are pitting against, we haven't got the budget they have. We will be bringing a few trialists in, I think we probably need four or five additions," he told WalesOnline.
"We are in the process of getting one sorted over the next 24 or 48 hours. Then we will bring a few lads in and hopefully they will impress. There are positions we need to fill and it's about getting the right players and characters in.
"What we have got over other football clubs is that, although we don't pay the wages others do, there is a huge pathway to come in and play for the first team. Any footballer who wants to go and play first-team football and make a career in the game, then look at Cardiff City's academy and see the pathway and take your chance there. Hopefully that'll impress a few of the players this summer.
"That's our pitch. We can't compete with Cat 1 academies financially. Players who are on thousands of pounds a week and then get released at 18 or 19 years of age, it's scary.
"If players think they are a Championship or Premier League player then they should think they can come to Cardiff and either go and get sold on or play 300 games for Cardiff City. We can only pitch it to the players that way. We have had 14 debuts in the last two-and-a-half years, for an academy that is a great selling point for any young player coming through.
"Hopefully that sells it to the young players and we can get four or five lads in to really drive the under-23s on and the other lads who are in the programme already and it goes up another notch again. Hopefully we will have more debuts over the next 12 months."
Saunders: Bale should be signed by Prem top six side
Gareth Bale should be snapped up by any of the Premier League's top six this summer, according to former Liverpool and Wales forward Dean Saunders.
Bale's future is in the air at the minute, with this Saturday's Champions League final against Liverpool set to be his last in a Los Blancos shirt - if he gets on. Bale himself has put any questions surrounding his future on the backburner while Wales gear up for their World Cup play-off final against Scotland or Ukraine on June 5.
Cardiff has been mooted as a possible destination, so, too, has his former club Tottenham and newly-rich Newcastle United. But for Saunders, he still thinks the Wales captain could cut it at the very top at club level.
"Any of the top six, for me, sign him. He's 32, he's not 35, although he has had a few injuries. Providing, mentally, he has still got the candle burning inside him and still wants to do it," he told talkSPORT
"What about the two goals he scored for Wales out of nothing to win us the game [against Austria]. If (Carlo) Ancelotti needs a goal and he is sat on the bench, having watched Bale score two goals for Wales, two great goals, and he doesn't bring him on...?"
Davies scans 'not good' but targeting pre-season
Isaak Davies was omitted from Wales' under-21s squad because scans came back on his hamstring and they were "not good", Paul Bodin has said.
The Bluebirds striker was a notable absentee when Bodin named his squad for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2023 qualifying matches against Netherlands and Gibraltar next month. Davies did struggle with a hamstring injury towards the back end of the season, though, missing three games before coming on for a 15-minute cameo in the final fixture against Derby County at Pride Park.
And Bodin has confirmed that is indeed the reason why Davies will miss the upcoming camp. There is hope on Davies' part, though, that he will be fit and firing, ready for pre-season.
"On Monday night I got a call to say he had a scan and it wasn't good in terms of joining our camp, but he is certainly hoping to be fit for pre-season," Bodin said of Davies.
"There is no way he would have been fit for us in 10 days' time. Isaak has burst on to the scene this year and done tremendously well."
Ben Turner has a new club
Former Cardiff City centre-back Ben Turner has signed for eighth-tier club Ilkeston Town.
The 33-year-old's deal was announced just 24 hours after former Bluebirds loanee Jamie Ward had been confirmed as a new signing with the Midlands club. The pair had recently played together at Buxton.
Manager Martin Carruthers said: “It’s another fantastic addition to what is an already talented squad, this being our last bit of business. The signing of Ben once again underlines the intent and willingness from the club to keep on developing and giving the amazing supporters the talented team that this club deserves.
“Ben is a hugely experienced and talented defender who will be a key player for us in the coming season. A big powerful defender who will give us steel and aggression in both boxes."
Turner played 121 games for the Bluebirds between 2011 and 2016.
