Cardiff City are close to appointing Brian Barry-Murphy as their new manager, bringing a conclusion to the nearly two-month search for Omer Riza’s successor.
Sky Sports reported earlier this week that the Bluebirds are close to signing the Irish coach for next season.
The 46-year-old will be looking to construct a team capable of taking the Welsh club back to the Championship on their first attempt following their relegation to League One.
The summer transfer market will be important, and he will most likely have to make a decision about the future of loanee Will Alves from Leicester City.
Cardiff City has made a loan claim for Will Alves after his brief 2024-25 stay.
On the final day of the winter transfer window in February, Cardiff announced the signing of Alves for the remainder of the season, with game time much needed after recuperating from a torn ACL the previous year.
At the time of his signing for the Bluebirds, the then-19-year-old had only played 16 games – four of them for Leicester’s first team – since returning from his lengthy layoff, and he struggled to make an immediate impact at Cardiff City Stadium.
Alves appeared 14 times for Cardiff, starting eight of them, and scored four goals in that time; however, he was substituted after only 33 minutes in his final game against Norwich City, which was a tactical change after going down to ten men.
When asked if Alves should return to the club for next season, with incoming manager Barry-Murphy familiar with him from his time as assistant coach at Leicester, FLW’s Cardiff fan analyst Matt Hall said he isn’t needed.
Alves appeared 14 times for Cardiff, starting eight of them, and scored four goals in that time; however, he was substituted after only 33 minutes in his final game against Norwich City, which was a tactical change after going down to ten men.
When asked if Alves should return to the club for next season, with incoming manager Barry-Murphy familiar with him from his time as assistant coach at Leicester, FLW’s Cardiff fan analyst Matt Hall said he isn’t needed.
| Will Alves – Cardiff City league goals and appearances (per Fbref.com) | ||||
| Season | Appearances (Starts) | Goals (Assists) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 14 (8) | 1 (3) | ||
“Would he be exactly what we needed? I’d probably say no; I believe other clubs would benefit from having him as a young player.
“But, if you look at our team for next season, we’re going to have a very young side anyway; we’ve got most of our wingers who are young, with the exception of [Chris] Willock, and adding a young loan winger would probably be a little too much, especially someone as raw as Alves.
“If, for example, his initial loan does not go as planned, you have another young guy who is annoying, takes up a loan place, and hinders the path to one of our players.
Leave a Reply