Cardiff City boss Steve Morison says the club's change in style has caught the eye of Premier League sides looking to loan out their brightest young talents this summer.
The Bluebirds are facing up to a seismic shake-up of their squad at the end of the campaign, with as many as 15 players facing uncertain futures. As well as the numerous stars out of contract, there are questions over the club's five players currently on loan.
The likes of Tommy Doyle and Cody Drameh have proved hugely successful following their loans from Manchester City and Leeds United respectively, and have arguably laid down a marker on the sort of success that's possible in the loan market. Morison clearly hopes there's more to come, and says the club's work with the duo shows City are capable of accommodating and developing young talent from the top flight.
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Cardiff would like to bring the pair on board for another season, although Morison believes the club are now well-placed to attract further young talents from higher up the footballing foodchain regardless of the duo's next move. However, he insists any new recruits will have to show they are the right fit for his plans.
"We have got to recruit the right players," he said. "I’m not bringing anyone in because we need a number. The coaching, the tactics, that comes down to our decisions, team line-ups. I’m never going to ask players to do something I don’t want them to do.
"You can’t ask players to do something they are not physically capable of doing. If I am wanting to evolve the football club and create a different environment and create a learning environment and a progressive one; for example the recruitment team went to watch Brighton and Chelsea this week to touch base. We are now an option for them because of the change in style - previously we weren’t.
"We can now go and compete in the league just because of the change in style. It's down to us to coach that. But now we need to bring players in that can carry out what we want.
"This planning is all about the stuff people don’t see, the meetings, the Zooms, conversations to put ourselves on the list [of other clubs]," he continued. "We have to put ourselves on the list, which we haven’t done before. Others don't have to deal with this, they just have to make a phone call. We have to show them where we are, what we are trying to achieve, what we are trying to get to.
"There’s a hell of a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Everyone is trying to change and replicate the top guys in the best way they can. It’s time we caught up with that."
The financial constraints mean it will likely be a challenging window for Cardiff, but Morison is clearly relishing the task ahead - and the chance to lay down some foundations ahead of next season. "I want to press all over the pitch, but I can’t do that if I’ve got players who can’t do that," he continued.
"I couldn’t do it when I played! So I had to play in teams who were pragmatic, who hit teams on the counter-attack. So, we tried it under Neil [Harris] and we lost 6-0 to Coventry! Regardless of what anyone says, we, comfortably, stayed in this league. We did it emphatically, with an inexperienced manager, coaching team, players out of contract, a bunch of young kids, we didn’t do too badly.
"Now we have the opportunity to build something of our own with substance, for the benefit of the football club, for the benefit of the fans, so we don’t have situations like this again. We are at the start of a cycle now and it’s got to continually evolve over the years."
The level of expected cost-cutting means that even if Morison manages to get new faces on board, he will likely be left placing a greater level of faith on a youthful core next term. The likes of homegrown talents like Rubin Colwill, Isaak Davies and Joel Bagan have all, at various points, sparked cause for optimism this season, and Morison believes there's more to come from his young charges.
"We champion the young players and they have been excellent. No matter what anyone says, they are not fully fledged Championship players yet," he added.
"There is a reality to it and we understand the reality and for me it’s a really exciting future. I’m not going to change! My mind is clear on what I want. The only way it doesn’t happen is if I’m not here. We are all aligned with what we are going to do."
