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Glen Williams

Cardiff City transfer news as Ferdinand brands new man a 'great signing' and 'other options' in pipeline after deal called off

Here are your Cardiff City transfer headlines for Thursday, May 26.

Ferdinand: Tanner a 'great signing'

Cardiff City's third summer signing Ollie Tanner has been branded a "great signing" by former West Ham, Sunderland and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

The Bluebirds fought of stiff competition from several teams throughout the Football League, including Tottenham and two other teams in the Premier League, to sign the talented 20-year-old winger from non-League outfit Lewes FC.

READ MORE : Death threats from Spurs fans, Gareth Bale comparisons and why Cardiff just felt right for Tanner

While clearly it's something of a jump from the seventh tier of English football to the second, there is a quiet confidence that Tanner will surprise a few people and make an impact in the Championship this term. Indeed, Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United and England legend Rio, believes Cardiff have a fantastic signing on their hands.

Writing on Instagram on a Cardiff fan account post of Tanner, Ferdinand replied: "U have a player on ur hands bluebirds great signing [sic]."

Ferdinand is an ambassador and mentor of New Era Global Sports, the agency which represents Tanner.

Deal breaks down but others in pipeline

Cardiff City held talks with Bristol City's Kasey Palmer but their pursuit of the midfielder appears to have ended, WalesOnline has learned.

Our colleagues Bristol Live reported the move was perilously close to collapsing after Palmer and Cardiff had held talks over a potential move last weekend. Palmer's salary at Ashton Gate is reported to be £1.2m per year. QPR and Birmingham City were also said to be monitoring the situation.

And WalesOnline learned on Thursday afternoon that signing Palmer is no longer considered an option, despite Cardiff registering strong interest. A source said the club "looked into it but it wasn't going to work" with "other options" in the pipeline. Palmer has another year left on his contract, too, so would have cost a transfer fee to get a permanent deal over the line.

Cardiff believe that the other targets they currently have in their crosshairs are far better suited for what they want moving forward. The Bluebirds' midfield is certainly an area which needs addressing this summer. Joe Ralls, Will Vaulks, Marlon Pack and Leandro Bacuna are all out of contract, while Tommy Doyle has returned to Manchester City and Sam Bowen has just been released to Newport County.

DON'T MISS A THING : For all the latest Bluebirds transfer news, sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here

Connolly earns Wales call-up

Cardiff City defender James Connolly has earned his first call-up to Wales' under-21s squad but there is no room for promising Bluebirds forward Isaak Davies in the 21-man squad.

Wales will face Netherlands on June 11 and Gibraltar on June 14, with both matches taking place at Parc y Scarlets, in their final Euro 2023 qualifier matches and the Bluebirds will have two representatives in the squad in Connolly and midfielder Eli King.

Connolly's citizenship is stated as English, however he has long been on Wales' radar owing to his Welsh parentage. Receiving his first call-up to Paul Bodin's Wales Under-21s side is no doubt the icing on the cake after what has been a stellar breakthrough season for the 20-year-old centre-back.

Meanwhile, the omission of Davies is something of a shock. The 20-year-old forward was one of the more exciting prospects to emerge from a miserable campaign for the Bluebirds. Indeed, there was even talk of him potentially forcing his way into Rob Page's senior squad for March's camp, however that was not to be.

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. Whether that has played any part in selection only time will tell.

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