Cardiff City

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The Championship season is on the horizon, and while Cardiff City are yet to make any new additions to their squad, boss Brian Barry-Murphy has committed his future to the club.

Barry-Murphy, 44, signed an extended contract until 2029 this week ahead of leading the Bluebirds back into the second tier following promotion as League One runners-up.

The Irishman said after Cardiff's pre-season opener against FC Midtjylland that he had "never felt anything other than support" from owner Vincent Tan.

He added that they were looking to strengthen every aspect of their squad - but where do you feel Cardiff need reinforcements?

So far, the Bluebirds have only added goalkeeper Nathan Trott, signing him permanently from Danish club FC Copenhagen after his key role last campaign.

Barry-Murphy leaned on youngsters during his first season in charge in South Wales as Cardiff fielded the youngest side, on average, of any team in the division.

But can they deliver at a higher level? Or should Cardiff be focusing more on experience?

Which players would you like to see Cardiff recruit this summer?

Let us know your views by clicking here.

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Cardiff City youngster Trey George has joined League of Ireland outfit Sligo Rovers on loan until 1 January, a move that sees him reunite with Darren Purse.

Purse, Cardiff's former under-21 manager, recently left the Bluebirds to join the Irish club and has made attacking midfielder George as his second signing.

George, 20, joined Cardiff at the age of eight and made his first-team debut in the Vertu Trophy against Arsenal's under-21s last November.

The Merthyr Tydfil native marked his maiden appearance by scoring the third goal in a 3-1 victory.

"Darren's had a massive influence on my career so far," said George. "He was heavily involved in me getting my first professional contract, so we know each other very well, and I know how he does things."

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Cardiff City midfielder Eli King is still learning to trust his body after completing the long road back from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered in August 2025.

King played his first game since that season-ending injury on Saturday, entering for the final 26 minutes of Cardiff's 5-1 pre-season victory at Forest Green Rovers.

"I'm lucky that I've had three or four weeks of training now before this game - it's not like I've just been thrust out there," said 23-year-old King.

"It's a lot of firsts for me, my first tackle, my first change of direction; I'm definitely having to trust my body and all the work I've done over the last 10-11 months."

King could gain further pre-season minutes when the Bluebirds host Italian giants Roma in their final summer friendly on Saturday, 1 August (15:00 BST).

He is hoping to put himself in consideration for Brian Barry-Murphy at the earliest opportunity, with Cardiff starting their Championship campaign at home to Wrexham on Monday, 17 August (20:00 BST).

That mouthwatering league opener follows Cardiff's home Carabao Cup tie against League Two Swindon Town, whom King faced in one of his two appearances during the 2025-26 season.

"I'm hoping [to go to the next level]. We've got another few weeks left of pre-season and the cup game as well," King added.

"I'll be looking to train as best as possible, keep putting myself into a position where I can be trusted in games."

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Brian Barry-Murphy reiterated that Cardiff City are working "really hard" on transfers as they await their first new signing of the summer.

The Bluebirds have signed goalkeeper Nathan Trott on a permanent deal following his impressive loan spell but are yet to add a fresh face to the group.

Cardiff, who beat Forest Green Rovers 5-1 in their penultimate pre-season friendly on Saturday, have been linked with Norwegian midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl.

Tromso's Hjerto-Dahl has scored seven goals and notched two assists during the ongoing Norwegian league season.

"The biggest things that we can tell the supporters is that we are working really, really hard and have been for a long period," Barry-Murphy told the club website.

"We are very clear on what we need, who we want. It just takes time. When we have news, we will tell you as soon as possible.

"Our intention is to give the supporters a team they feel really excited to watch come the first game of the season and beyond.

"Things this summer are a little bit slower because of the World Cup. We are a very ambitious team; we have high hopes for the season, but we know we have to improve."

George Rees-Julian
BBC Sport Wales

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Chris Willock scored a first-half hat-trick as Cardiff City thumped National League side Forest Green Rovers 5-1 in their penultimate pre-season fixture.

Midfielder Willock scored from the penalty spot to complete his hat-trick and put the Bluebirds 5-0 up at half-time.

Wales international Isaak Davies opened the scoring on eight minutes and Cardiff were 4-0 up after 24 minutes, with Yousuf Salech also scoring.

Willock was withdrawn at the break before Robbie Savage's Forest Green pulled one back, and Cardiff introduced five youngsters, including 16-year-old Noah Anyadike.

Rubin Colwill, Perry Ng, Callum Chambers, Cian Ashford and Dylan Lawlor were not named in the squad by manager Brian Barry-Murphy.

Eli King, who spent most of last season out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and last played in August 2025, made the bench and entered on 64 minutes.

Cardiff finish their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Italian giants AS Roma on Saturday, 1 August (15:00 BST).

Their 2026-27 campaign starts with a home Carabao Cup tie against Swindon Town on Saturday, 8 August (15:00 BST) and they host Wrexham in the Championship on Monday, 17 August (20:00 BST).

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Darren Purse has left his role as manager of Cardiff City Under-21s to become manager of Sligo Rovers.

The former defender will spearhead the bid to avoid relegation from the League of Ireland Premier Division, with Sligo five points from safety with 12 games left.

Purse has signed an 18-month contract to replace John Russell after he left last week for rivals Shelbourne.

"It's a really good football club, and one I'm looking forward to taking places," said Purse.

"You can have a long-term plan as much as you want, but the big thing for us is winning games over the next 12 and staying in this division."

Purse spent four years as a player at Cardiff between 2005 and 2009, making 123 appearances, and returned as an academy coach in December 2021.

The former skipper played a leading role in the development of a raft of young players that helped Brian Barry-Murphy's first team secure an immediate return to the Championship as League One runners-up.

Matthew Bloxham has taken charge of Cardiff's under-21s, assisted by head of academy coaching Dane Facey, while the club search for a permanent replacement.

"We're sad to lose Darren as our under-21s lead coach," said academy manager Gavin Chesterfield.

"His tireless worth ethic and selfless approach to player development means he can be very proud of the impact he has made upon our players and culture."

Sligo are a point back on Waterford, who have had an upturn in fortunes under former Newport County boss Graham Coughlan, and five points from safety.

As things stand, Sligo would drop out of the Irish top flight and Waterford would play in a promotion/relegation play-off.

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Brian Barry-Murphy has reiterated that Cardiff City rising star Rob Tankiewicz must continue to improve following his starring role in Tuesday's pre-season win over Cork City.

Tankiewicz, 17, scored a second half brace as the Bluebirds battered the League of Ireland First Division side 6-1 in their second summer friendly.

The Wales youth international temporarily became Cardiff's youngest player last season after debuting aged 16 years and 117 days before team-mate Axel Donczew (15 years and 234 days) pipped him to the accolade 64 minutes later.

Tankiewicz made one further senior appearance for Cardiff last season, as a sub against Northampton in April, before earning an opportunity to impress in pre-season.

The midfielder has done exactly that, and earned praise from manager Barry-Murphy after scoring twice within 12 minutes against Cork.

"Robert is a very young player, with a good mentality and a good feeling of when to arrive into the box and score goals," Barry-Murphy told Cardiff's official website.

"As always with an inexperienced player, it's about trying to give [them] the idea of when to arrive and the feeling of what's most important; scoring goals.

"He's improving a lot, but he knows how much work he has to do to be the player that we want him to be."

Tankiewicz signed professional terms with Cardiff in June. The club have not specified the length of the contract.

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Brian Barry-Murphy is pleased with Cardiff City's application in pre-season but insisted his side remain "nowhere near" where they want to be.

The Bluebirds beat League of Ireland First Division side Cork City 6-1 in their second summer friendly, bouncing back from their heavy defeat to FC Midtjylland.

Callum Robinson opened the scoring on Tuesday evening before braces from Isaak Davies and Rob Tankiewicz, and a late Yousef Salech strike.

Cardiff, who are preparing for their return to the Championship, fielded a different line-up in each half and Barry-Murphy was pleased by their endeavour.

"The main objective for us was to get everybody through 45 minutes each, increasing fitness levels as much as possible," the head coach told Cardiff's website.

"I'm very pleased with the application of the players here and very hopeful the game exposure we've had over the past four days will improve us a lot.

"The energy in the team, the application to improve physically was probably the most important part.

"I'm not just saying it for the sake of it, we are nowhere near where we want to be and I see that as a positive.

"[This was] another small step towards where we know we have to be from the start of the season.

"It's a very intense period of pre-season as we now go through the gears of footballing content. I will look to try and get up a level in the next days."

Cardiff will round out their pre-season preparations with a friendlies against National League outfit Forest Green Rovers and Italian giants AS Roma.

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Cardiff City stormed to a 6-1 win at Cork City as their build-up to their return to the Championship continued on Tuesday night.

Brian Barry-Murphy, whose playing career began at the Rebel Army, saw his former side overwhelmed after a slow start for the Bluebirds.

Callum Robinson opened the scoring after 40 minutes and that was how it stayed until the break.

The visitors completely changed their line-up for the second period that began with Denzell Obenge's equaliser for the hosts.

But after that, Cardiff dominated with a brace each for Isaak Davies and Rob Tankiewicz before Yousef Salech completed the rout.

It was a welcome outcome for Cardiff after being hammered 6-0 in their pre-season opener at Danish side FC Midtjylland.

Cardiff are next in action at Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, 25 July before hosting Italian giants AS Roma seven days later.

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Cardiff City continue their pre-season campaign at Cork City on Tuesday (19:45 BST) with boss Brian Barry-Murphy acknowledging they have a lot of work to do before competitive football returns next month.

Barry-Murphy will lead Cardiff in his home city as the Bluebirds face a Cork side currently top of the League of Ireland First Division, the nation's second tier.

While it is still early in pre-season, Cardiff will hope for an encouraging evening at the Turner's Cross Stadium having lost 6-0 to Danish side FC Midtjylland in their opening friendly on Saturday.

Barry-Murphy's team begin the new season with a Carabao Cup tie against Swindon on Saturday, 8 August before their Championship campaign starts with a home fixture against Wrexham nine days later.

"Nobody is under any illusions about the amount of work we are going to need before we get anywhere near the season," Barry-Murphy said.

"But that's very exciting for us because we feel as if we have a squad who can improve, and throughout the course of pre-season we hope to add to the squad and improve it.

"We are very clear on how much work we have to do and we are very willing to do it."

Barry-Murphy began his playing career with Cork in 1995 before moving to Preston North End four years later.

Cork, who are managed by former Middlesbrough and Scotland midfielder Barry Robson, relinquished a nine-match winning run by losing 4-3 at home to Longford Town last Friday.

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Brian Barry-Murphy has suggested Nathan Trott, Rubin Colwill and Dylan Lawlor are not serious injury concerns despite the trio sitting out Cardiff City's opening pre-season friendly.

Goalkeeper Trott has a groin problem and midfielder Colwill has an ankle injury.

Centre-back Lawlor has been nursing what Barry-Murphy described as a "knee issue" since returning from international duty with Wales last month.

The 20-year-old played 67 minutes of Wales' draw with Ghana on 2 June (pictured above) but was not involved in the defeat in Romania four days later because of the injury.

Lawlor, Colwill and Trott were absent as Cardiff were thumped by FC Midtjylland, but Barry-Murphy said: "All those players are in a pretty good place and we just didn't want to take any risks with them at this stage."

Cardiff play their second pre-season game at Cork City on Tuesday.

Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City will benefit from playing high quality opposition after the Bluebirds lost 6-0 to Danish side FC Midtjylland in their opening pre-season friendly.

Cardiff's next warm-up game is away at Cork City on Tuesday as they build towards the new Championship season.

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Cardiff City's pre-season preparations will step up a notch when they face FC Midtjylland in their first summer friendly on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Bluebirds take on the Danish outfit at the Cardiff City Stadium before travelling for a training camp in Cork, the home city of boss Brian Barry-Murphy.

Cardiff are gearing up for their return to the Championship having bounced back from relegation by winning promotion from League One last season.

Midtjylland finished second in the Danish top flight in 2025-26.

The four-time Danish champions play their fourth summer friendly as they prepare for a Europa League qualifier against Turkish giants Besiktas later this month.

Cardiff defender Perry Ng, who signed a new two-year deal with the club in May, is excited to get back on the pitch in front of home fans at such an early stage of pre-season.

"We look good - everyone looks sharp. It's been a good week," Ng told the Cardiff website.

"It will be a bit strange, playing our first pre-season fixture in front of fans at the stadium. It's good to get back to proper games as soon as possible. They've got a big game [coming up] in the Europa League. It will be a tough test."

Cardiff begin the 2026-27 season with a home Carabao Cup tie against League Two Swindon Town on Saturday, 8 August (15:00 BST) before hosting Wrexham in a blockbuster Championship opener on Monday, 17 August (20:00 BST).

Barry-Murphy's team will also face League of Ireland First Division side Cork City, National League outfit Forest Green Rovers and Italian giants AS Roma during pre-season this summer.

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Cardiff City Women have made Welsh centre-back Ella Hilliard their first signing of the summer.

Hilliard, 22, was at Cardiff as a teenager before spells at Bristol City, Derby County, Gwalia United and Bristol Rovers.

The former Wales Under-19 international is Adran Premier side Cardiff's first signing of the summer.