Cardiff City "class act" tipped for summer transfer interest | OneFootball

Alex Robertson has been one of the shining lights in the Welsh Capital this season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Cardiff City are one of a number of sides fighting for their Championship survival right now, with the Bluebirds among a cluster of teams looking desperately over their shoulder at the relegation places below.

The Welsh outfit saw Erol Bulut depart the club after a torrid start to the campaign, before Omer Riza steadied the ship and helped turn things around, as he oversees matters, at least until the end of the season.

Regardless of what division the former Premier League side find themselves in when August comes around, there will be a number of players who are likely to attract interest this summer, with moves to the top end of the division - or indeed the Premier League - a distinct possibility.

We asked Football League World’s Cardiff fan pundit Jack Price to pick out the player most likely to attract transfer interest once the summer comes around, with a recent recruit already looking destined for bigger and better things.

Alex Robertson form likely to catch the eye of Championship, Premier League clubs

Alex Robertson only made the move to the Welsh Capital last summer, with the Manchester City academy graduate joining the Bluebirds in a move said to have cost a fee in the region of £1 million.

Having excelled on loan at Portsmouth in League One for the first half of the previous campaign, there was plenty of expectation on the 21-year-old’s shoulders ahead of the current campaign, and after just six months at his new club his talent has already been evident week after week.

The Australian is pivotal to a lot of what City do well with the ball, with his elegant strokes across the pitch evidence of his ability with ball at feet, while his creativity has given his side an extra outlet going forward of late.

Only Perry Ng (100) can top Robertson’s 95 progressive passes in a Cardiff shirt in the Championship this season, and only Rubin Colwill (75) has more than his 70 shot-creating actions, which proves just how fundamental he is to his side as they approach the final third.

With that in mind, Price is confident that the young midfielder is destined for the top during his career, and his stay at the Cardiff City Stadium could be a short one after such a dazzling campaign to date.

When asked which player will have most eyes on him in the months to come, Price said: “One player at Cardiff who I expect to attract the most interest in the summer is going to have to be Alex Robertson.

“A few months ago, I would have had to say Rubin Colwill, but he has really gone off the boil as of late, whereas Robertson is performing week in, week out, to a very high standard.

“We signed Robertson for £1 million from Manchester City last summer and he has been a class act ever since; he is so cool and composed on the ball, and his awareness, footballing brain and range of passing allows us to try and dictate the tempo in midfield.

“He is also very creative, he likes to get at players, he likes to get forward, he likes to make those late runs into the box and has an eye for goal, and that has seen him thrive as more of an advanced eight or number ten under Riza in the last month or two.

“He is only 21, and for me he is in the bracket of one of the better midfielders in the Championship, and is one of those that if he was in a better team that were a bit more dominant and could work the ball to him a bit more, he would go up a level.

“But he is going to have some career, so it would be no surprise to me - regardless of what division we are in next season - to see Robertson getting a lot of interest from some top end Championship clubs, or even clubs in the Premier League as more of a long-term buy.”

Rubin Colwill, Ollie Tanner, also tipped for potential Cardiff City exits

While Robertson was Price’s standout star of the season so far, there will likely be a number of City players that could command transfer interest in the off-season, with the flair and attacking intent of Rubin Colwill [pictured] and Ollie Tanner likely to garner admirers from further afield.

The latter is already said to be wooing a number of suitors, with Football Insider claiming that Championship leaders Leeds United were interested in the 22-year-old, as well as a number of Premier League sides.

Colwill’s dynamism has also seen the likes of Ipswich Town and Southampton linked with a move in the past, with his ceiling as high as any player in the Bluebirds’ squad to date, with the trio leaving price with a sense of foreboding ahead of the summer transfer window opening up.

He continued: “I think there a few players that could attract interest as well, away from Robertson.

“I think Ollie Tanner, given what came out last month about Leeds, Burnley Southampton and Leicester - I don’t know how much truth there was to that - so he is another one.

“I think Rubin Colwill as well, if he can pick up his performances again there is no reason why he couldn’t pick up interest again.

“But for what it is worth, Robertson is our best player by a distance, and I think he is someone who we need to build the team around for however long we can keep him.

“Hopefully we can fend off interest in the summer, but that interest feels inevitable.”