Cardiff City should consider one-time £12.5m man and two more free agents in October | OneFootball

Football League World runs the rule over three free agent signings who Cardiff City should consider this month

Although the free agent market tends to be somewhat sparse following the summer transfer window, you would be hard-pressed to find too much contrast to the line of thinking that Cardiff City's squad urgently needs bolstering, by hook or by crook.

The Bluebirds have endured a torrid start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign, with Erol Bulut receiving his marching orders after losing five of his opening six matches. Their early-season form is at alarming odds with the expectation which was generally held by supporters throughout the summer, who had hoped that Cardiff could kick up the table and threaten to clutch a play-off spot.

What had been deemed to be an intriguing window of activity, at the very least, has failed to transpire as a successful one. Cardiff failed to adequately address their perennial striker issues and there is still a school of thought that this team sorely lacks pace, dynamism and intent - even after making eight signings.

They did, however, make fair use of free agent availability, signing Chris Willock alongside ex-Aston Villa duo Calum Chambers and Anwar El Ghazi.

Cardiff might want to learn from their mistakes already, but they could soon find themselves in need of a quick fix and Football League World takes a look at three free agent signings who the club should be considering in October - should they want to add fresh faces outside the window.

Vito van Crooij

In what would represent an outstandingly left-field piece of business, Cardiff could likely do much worse than pursuing a move for Vito van Crooij if they intend on strengthening their wide options.

The 28-year-old Dutchman, who can operate on both flanks, is now a free agent after seeing his contract terminated with Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Wehda last month. Van Crooij failed to get going in Saudi Arabia but is unlikely to remain out of the game for too long, having been a consistent performer at Eredivisie level for a number of years.

He put up decent numbers with both VVV-Venlo and PEC Zwolle, although his breakout season came with Sparta Rotterdam in the 2022/23 campaign, when he notched 12 strikes and provided a further 11 assists, outscoring the likes of Mohamed Kudus, Dušan Tadić and Cody Gakpo, and setting up more goals than Xavi Simons, Steven Berghuis and Joey Veerman.

Such a rich vein of form just two seasons ago does prompt natural questions as to why he is without a club at the age of 28, where he should be expected to be playing his best football. But make no mistake about it, he would offer some much-needed attacking and goalscoring impetus to a side in need of exactly that, providing they could even pull off the move.

Isaac Success

Perhaps a more familiar name on English shores, Isaac Success is best known for his time with Watford and is also now up for grabs on the free agent market following his release from Udinese at the start of the season.

Success joined the Hornets in a then-club record £12.5m move from Granada back in 2016 but never truly realised his potential at Vicarage Road, scoring on just six occasions across 72 matches.

He can, however, prove himself to be a real handful with his link-up play, direct running and physical presence, which enables him to draw defenders in and earn fouls - freeing up space for others, bring teammates into the game and pin teams back deep into their territory.

Those attributes hold more merit than the goalscoring record he has accumulated throughout his career, although it is worth pointing out that he posted fair numbers in the top-flight of Italian football with Udinese. Despite scoring just five goals across three full seasons, Success set up nine in his first term and then six in the second.

Cardiff urgently need a forward who can drop deep, win duels, drive forward and link up with teammates to create a more fluid and flowing attacking dynamic, which Success is capable of doing. The versatile forward can play anywhere on the frontline and that positional flexibility would be a big plus point, you can imagine.

Daniel Amartey

Last but not least, Cardiff's defensive shortcomings are equally pressing as their goalscoring inadequacies. They have been miserable in both boxes and while van Crooij and Success would offer something new in the final third, they could live to regret failing to address the backline too.

Amartey built up a solid body of work in English football across a seven-year spell with Leicester City, whom he represented in the UEFA Champions League and lifted the most improbable Premier League title in his first season at the club.

He spent a year with Besiktas after leaving the King Power Stadium last summer but now finds himself without a club, and Cardiff should really be considering a move.

They are far too open defensively at the moment and get played through with ease; Amartey may not be capable of solving all of that on his own, but he would doubtless be an improvement on what they currently have.

For what it's worth, the 48-cap Ghana international can play just as well in defensive midfield, where Cardiff are also lacking in both bite and control. Wage demands could be a sticking point and Cardiff are generally a hard sell right now, but Amartey would tick many boxes.