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Sport
Paul Abbandonato

A gentle giant off the pitch, an absolute beast on it - meet Dimitrios Goutas, the 6ft 4in rock Bulut will build his Cardiff City team around

Don't be surprised to see Dimitrios Goutas end up as Cardiff City captain one day.

If things go well there will be more, shall we call them 'glamorous', Bluebirds signings to come in the next few days.

But as far as new manager Erol Bulut is concerned, the arrival of Greek international Goutas could be the most important summer capture of the lot, the defensive rock he intends to build his Bluebirds team around.

READ MORE: Erol Bulut implements two tactical changes immediately to get Cardiff City scoring again

Standing at 6ft 4in, Goutas certainly looks the part, bringing much-needed presence to Cardiff's side.

But he provides so much more than just stature. We're told Goutas is being described as 'a gentle giant of a man off the pitch, but an absolute beast on it.'

Shades of Sol Bamba there, perhaps? Like Bamba, Goutas is said to be a real leader of men and many Cardiff fans feel, rightly or wrongly, that is something that has been missing from the dressing room for a while.

There are lots of holes that need filling in this Bluebirds side but the gigantic one left behind by Cedric Kipre is perhaps the biggest of the lot. Bulut quite rightly wants to sort Cardiff's lack of goal threat going forward, and signings to come will do that, but it would be rendered irrelevant without a solid rearguard.

Goutas coming on board will help sort the void, bring stability at the back, help provide the very foundation from which the flair players Bulut plans to bring on board can flourish.

You can only see young Mark McGuinness coming on in leaps and bounds next to a strong, experienced leader like Goutas. Together they could form a formidable centre-back combination.

Goutas isn't the quickest, but he makes up for that with positional sense and reading of the game. In any case, with McGuinness, Perry Ng and one of Jamilu Collins or Joel Bagan also at the back he has legs around him.

He's brilliant in the air, as you'd expect of someone with his size, strong in the tackle, decent on the ball and will provide a much-needed set-piece threat again.

Cardiff dominated teams in that area under Malky Mackay, Russell Slade, Neil Warnock and Neil Harris, indeed perhaps even became too overly reliant on goals from corners, free-kicks and throw-ins. The likes of Steven Caulker, Ben Turner, Sean Morrison, Bamba, Bruno Manga and Kieffer Moore regularly popped up with goals.

Strangely they went from boom to bust last season and rarely threatened from set-pieces full stop.

Bulut has described that as a hugely important aspect of the game, particularly in tight matches, and says Goutas can help resolve the problem.

Goutas actually scored two goals on his Sivasspor debut. Just one will do nicely in the Championship opener up at Leeds United on August 6. We don't want to be getting greedy!

Is he an upgrade on Kipre? Time will tell. But however well Kipre played, and he most certainly did, he was never described as the kind of vocal leader Cardiff need. Kipre tended to leads by example. Goutas will cover off the two areas.

Goutas has come through via Greek, Turkish, Cyprus, Belgian and Polish club football. It is one of Bulut's Turkish assistants, who knew him well at SIvasspor, who insisted Cardiff should sign him.

Bulut agreed and feels Goutas' recent pedigree, having played in the Europa League, Europa Conference and the Greece national side, will hugely benefit Cardiff moving forward.

OK, there have only been three international appearances, but the call-ups prove Goutas is certainly no mug.

His Greece debut came in a World Cup qualifier against Spain, Goutas lining up opposite the likes of Rodri, Gavi and Morata, of Manchester City, Barcelona and Juventus fame respectively.

Greece lost 1-0, but he acquitted himself well, keeping his place for the 1-1 draw with Kosovo three days on.

There is an age-old adage in football that you build from the back. That's why Bulut wanted to get Goutas' transfer over the line as quickly as possible.

So that's a centre-forward on board in Ike Ugbo, a centre-half in Dimitrios Goutas. The spine of the side is being re-organised.

Next for the flair players. If Cardiff can also land the remaining targets they are chasing, the team could look totally transformed very soon.

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