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Wales Online

Sport

Glen Williams

Cardiff City transfer headlines as Steve Morison confirms he wants to bring in new striker and stance on players leaving revealed

Steve Morison Cardiff City Cardiff Bluebirds Joe Ralls Mark Harris Max Watters

Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Thursday, July 28

Morison: It would be good to add more to the group

Steve Morison has said he hopes to add to his squad further before the transfer window shuts on September 1.

The Bluebirds have brought in 13 fresh faces this summer, but there is no sign of that stopping anytime soon, with strikers next on the agenda.

However, Max Watters and Mark Harris have fronted up well in pre-season and Morison is more than willing to afford them their opportunity. But more competition for that striker berth, he says, the better.

"No one wanted the No.9! I don't give [the shirt numbers] to them. No one wanted it so there's a blank No.9 shirt," Morison said.

"I think it would be good to add to the group. It would help with the competition. We have three vying for that (striker) jersey.

"Max and Mark, who are fit at the minute, the way we want to play, they are going to be a handful. They are not expected to just stand up there and be a head on a stick, they need to run, they need to get in behind, they need to link play, things they can all do and I will give them the opportunity to do that."

Asked if there were any other positions other than striker in which he would want to add further, Morison replied: "No. We have got good strikers. They are good players. We want someone to come in and compete with them like the wide areas, like the midfield areas, like the goalkeeper, like the back four.

"They have got to compete. You need to compete for the jersey, that’ll be the same with whoever we bring in. We want someone to add to the group and compete with the other strikers who are there."

Verdict given on outgoing players

Steve Morison is also not planning on allowing many, if any, other players to leave before the closure of the transfer window.

While Tom Sang and Gavin Whyte appearing to have forced their way into contention, there was still a question mark over whether they would leave the club over the next few weeks.

But the manager has confirmed that the players in the building are all here because they are wanted and they fit what the club are trying to do moving forward. He did, however, say that if anyone did leave it would be for developmental purposes, rather than them not being wanted.

"Not at the minute. But we will see," Morison said when asked by Wales Online if he envisaged any other players leaving.

"Obviously, we have got a lot of players in positions and if people do leave it'll be more for their development than anything else. There's no one in the building now who you'd want to leave because they aren't going to get game time or not going to play, or they don't fit.

"Everyone is fully involved. If they did leave it would be more for a development situation more than anything else."

Ralls: It was never in doubt that I would stay

New club captain Joe Ralls said it was "never in doubt" that he would sign a new contract at Cardiff City this summer.

There seemed to be a delay when it came to announcing a new deal for the recently-appointed skipper, with some fearing he might leave the club for pastures new. However, he has signed a new two-year deal and takes over the armband from Sean Morrison, one of his great mates, and is relishing the challenge ahead this term.

"I think it was never in doubt, really," he said when asked if there was any danger of him going.

"At the end of the season, it wasn’t the best of seasons, everyone wanted to get away and get on holiday, recover and re-energise. Once we started speaking again in the summer it was done quickly. I was buzzing to get it done and over the line, knowing I was coming back here, carrying on the journey that I've loved so far at this football club."

While Morison was a little more coy on revealing the club's aims and ambitions this season, Ralls knows that Cardiff fans will expect them to be fighting tooth and nail to claw their way up as close to those play-off spots as possible.

When asked what his aims were for the club this term, he said: "Get as high up to the top-six positions as we can. That’s always got to be the aim every season at Cardiff, it is something we have always looked to do.

"We spoke a lot when we were up on the trip in Scotland, we did an exercise and all the boys want to have success at this football club. It ultimately is getting promoted. As long as we keep ourselves in the hunt we will give ourselves a good chance."

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