CARDIFF CITY INTERESTED IN WANTAWAY RANGERS MAN

Cardiff City are reportedly interested in signing Rangers midfielder Todd Cantwell after an 18-month spell with the Scottish giants.

Rangers boss Philippe Clement confirmed after their pre-season friendly against Birmingham City that the midfielder had handed in a transfer request and was ready for a ‘new adventure’. 

Underachieving Cantwell

Born in Norfolk, Cantwell joined Norwich City in his youth and progressed through the academy at Carrow Road, making his professional debut in 2018 before a loan spell with Dutch side Fortuna Sittard. 

The 26-year-old came back and was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the Premier League in 2019-20. His first season in the Premier League was a success with six goals and two assists for a Norwich side that finished rock bottom. His performances saw him linked with a number of big clubs including Liverpool. He also earned a call-up to the England under 21s and made a total of four appearances. 

Despite interest from other clubs, he stayed with the Canaries and won the Championship title once again but didn’t have as much impact second time around in the Premier League. Cantwell made eight appearances the following season and joined AFC Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the 2021-22 season to find his form again. 

After failing to make an impact in East Anglia upon his return from the Dorset club, Cantwell joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers in January 2023 and has since made 66 appearances for the Gers scoring 14 goals. His transfer request was confirmed by manager Philippe Clement in bizarre circumstances this week after he called reporters back in a press conference to inform them of the news.

Will Cantwell perform at Cardiff? 

Despite his impressive performances in the Premier League with Norwich, there has always been a degree of underachievement for the midfielder. His coach in the Norwich youth system, Darren Huckerby, suggested that is was off the field where the midfielder needed to improve: 

“He was always the most gifted, but needed more work mentally than the others. He would admit it himself he could get intimidated by other players. Todd was brave in different ways, but he could be a bit of a sulker and we just had to try to knock that out of him a little”. 

With his transfer request handed in, Cardiff City are reportedly interested in signing the 26-year-old. There is no doubting Cantwell’s potential which he has shown a number of times throughout his career. 

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut predominately went with a 4-2-3-1 formation for much of last season and Cantwell would slot into the system well especially with his versatility. The former Norwich man has the capability to play in the attacking midfield role but also play on the right-hand side of the front three which he did at times for Norwich. The Bluebirds would hope that he could form a similar partnership with Chris Willock to the one he had with Emi Buendia at Norwich.

Cantwell provides a consistent attacking threat from midfield. He scored seven goals and registered five assists for Rangers last season. The midfielder consistently got shots on goal with a 68% shot accuracy from an average of 3.21 shots per 90 minutes.

Coupled with his attacking threat is Cantwell’s creative skillset having created 2.42 chances per 90 minutes on average last season. Having managed to win 2.47 fouls on average per 90 minutes last season, the midfielder will suit Cardiff given their set piece record. 

The Bluebirds scored the highest number of set piece goals with 20 goals last season, and adding Cantwell’s ability to win fouls higher up the pitch will provide them with a greater opportunity to be the top set-piece scorers again this season.

Should the Rangers midfielder find himself relocating to South Wales, the club will have an individual with experience of a title winning side in the Championship and also Premier League football. Cantwell’s signing would add to an already impressive summer for the Bluebirds with the likes of Callum Chambers and Chris Willock signing earlier in the window and they will hope that they can keep him happy in order to get the best out of him on the pitch.

2024-07-26T13:42:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd