Cardiff City set to seal exciting Leicester City transfer | OneFootball

Cardiff City are closing in on the loan signing of Leicester City winger Will Alves

Cardiff City are closing in on their third signing this month in Will Alves, who is poised to join Omer Riza's side on loan from Leicester City for the remainder of the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

That's according to a recent report from WalesOnline's Bluebirds correspondent Glen Williams, which has revealed the impending arrival of the Foxes winger after deals were completed for both Yousef Salech and Sivert Mannsverk earlier on in the window.

It has shaped up to be a wholly-positive month for the Bluebirds, who remain unbeaten in eight matches across all competitions and have gone some way to alleviating fears of relegation to League One, and today confirmed new contracts for key first-team trio Callum Robinson, Jak Alnwick and Callum O'Dowda.

The signing of Alves will naturally boost the feel-good factor around the club and Riza's side heading into February and beyond.

Cardiff City set to sign Leicester City's Will Alves

As per Williams' report, Cardiff are closing in on the loan signing of Alves, who worked under Riza for three years at England youth level and was accordingly among the boss' top January targets.

Cardiff have been keen to sign a winger and utilise the Premier League loan market, and are now set to complete a deal which will see the highly-rated prospect head to the Welsh capital for the rest of the season.

A graduate of the Foxes academy setup, Alves penned a four-year deal with Leicester only last summer, with the club in no doubt of his long-term potential. Indeed, Williams' report had added Leicester considered keeping Alves in Ruud Van Nistelrooy's squad for the remainder of the Premier League season, but have now decided to sanction his first loan move away from the King Power Stadium.

The 19-year-old, who recently made his Premier League debut against Manchester City, has long been tipped for a glittering career in the East Midlands. He has already had to overcome significant setbacks in his young career, having spent more than 12 months sidelined with an ACL injury between December 2022 and the start of 2024.

Leicester City's Will Alves is an exciting signing for Cardiff City

Although the jury is very much out on Alves in the senior game, his undoubted potential and profile makes him an exciting signing, and a strong stylistic fit into this Cardiff side.

The winger, who can also play as a number 10, possesses electric speed and acceleration, enabling him to gallop past opposition full-backs. Cardiff, of course, have suffered from a chronic lack of pace in recent years and will hope his acquisiton can allow Riza's side to be more dynamic and direct in transition.

He is also a natural technician with superb close control and has a bag of tricks at his disposal, meaning he could well offer Cardiff's attack an additional sense of X-Factor and star quality.

Alves is a serious talent who, had it not been for the horror ACL injury he sustained, could well be a first-team regular with the Foxes already, such are his gifts.

But he will now have the chance to show those at Cardiff, as he looks set to play an instant and significant role in Riza's set-up for what remains of the season.