Callum Robinson? The 5 Cardiff City players that need to prove a point in pre-season or risk 2024/25 axe
There are a number of Bluebirds players who find themselves with a real point to prove ahead of the 2024/25 EFL Championship campaign.
Now that clarity and continuity has been granted to manager Erol Bulut in the form of a fresh two-year contract, Cardiff City will undoubtedly occupy their focus upon bolstering the squad across the summer transfer window.
Indeed, following a respectable – and refreshingly stable – 12th placed finish last term, Cardiff will rightly have designs on challenging for play-off contention when next season rolls around.
But if Cardiff are to even threaten to realise such ambitions, squad surgery is needed with both incomings and outgoings.
Whilst it feels inevitable that the Welsh outfit will be in the market for at least two strikers, a selection of creative wide players and further reinforcements in the midfield engine room, for example, the obstacle of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) also demands that the exit door remains firmly active.
Those strict regulations were heavily restrictive to Cardiff’s activity in the January window, and they will be hoping for no such trials and tribulations this time around.
Just as arrivals can be anticipated in the coming weeks and months, the same can also be said for prospective outgoings – although a positive pre-season could well change that for a selection of Cardiff’s peripheral players.
Here, we take a look at the players with a point to prove…
Callum Robinson
Experienced forward Callum Robinson has endured a real fall from grace in the Welsh Capital.
Robinson, who has 49 second-tier strikes to his name across spells with Cardiff, West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, played a significant role in securing the Bluebirds’ survival in the 2022/23 season.
A healthy return of five goals and six assists despite only featuring in 26 league matches – a goal involvement every 148 minutes on average – supplemented much-needed firepower and ingenuity into a frontline that has sorely lacked both in years gone by.
