Cardiff City's squad next year will bear little resemblance to the one which will labour to a lowly Championship finish this term.
It is expected to be the biggest player overhaul in a decade or more at Cardiff City Stadium, with the Bluebirds expected to make as many as 15 signings in the off-season. What we do know is that a number of young players who have graduated from the academy will populate much of Steve Morison's squad.
Given so many of the young players have broken through into the first team this year, though, which of them will actually have a telling impact next term? And what is the plan for the youngsters who turned out for the senior side at some point this season? We run the rule over them all and what to expect next season...
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Rubin Colwill
Clearly, Rubin Colwill will be a big part of what Cardiff City do next season. So much of the creative burden was laid at his feet at the start of the campaign, especially when it became clear that Lee Tomlin would have to leave the club owing to fitness issues.
Of course, Mick McCarthy handed Colwill his debut last season, but it was in this campaign he really broke through. Being the solitary creative force in a struggling side is no easy task, though, and the addition of Tommy Doyle in January certainly helped ease the load on his young shoulders.
Colwill picked up two gongs at last weekend's Cardiff awards night, the academy player of the year and goal of the season, and it is hoped his impact will be far greater next year than this year. He has six goals in 37 appearances this term and will no doubt want to better that next season.
Morison has spoken about managing him like Phil Foden, dipping him in and out of the team as he progresses, but the manager is in no doubt that he has a "special talent" on his hands. In March, Morison said: "At some point over the next 18 months or two years, [Colwill] will be the first team on not just our team sheet, maybe Wales, maybe somewhere else, I don't know. But he will definitely, 100% be managed correctly and I will not be pressured or bullied into anything by outside noise.
"Rubin is a special talent, that's the reality of it. He has got lots of good attributes. There is not a football player in the world who hasn’t got things to work on, otherwise (Cristiano) Ronaldo wouldn't have pushed himself harder to get better all the time. At some point he would have settled.
"He needs to manage himself, [the press] need to manage him and I need to manage him from my point of view. Hopefully, we will get a player that is the lynchpin for Wales going forward. We will have a top-drawer player who will be the first name on the team sheet who we build the team around."
Will be an important player for the Bluebirds, and potentially Wales, next season.
Isaak Davies
McCarthy was a huge admirer of Isaak Davies and, in patches, he has shown why the former manager was so excited to bring him into the first team.
He is sharp, has a terrific work-rate and a fearlessness in possession which is encouraging to see. This year has been a real breakthrough for him and he has earned some admirers along the way, but he is by no means the finished article.
His decision-making and ruthlessness in the final third needs work, plus he needs to add a bit of bite to him if he is to really cut it at this level, but it is hoped that will come with time and with more experience under his belt.
The 20-year-old suffered a bit of a dip when Morison substituted him off at Bournemouth - after being brought on as a replacement - and was labelled a "hindrance" after the match. But it is testament to the player that he bounced back and enjoyed the best run of form in a Cardiff shirt the month or two after that incident in December.
Davies' cameo off the bench against QPR back in March was match-winning and arguably his best outing of the entire season, even if he was on the pitch for a tad more than half an hour.
But it is those sorts of bright, energetic, sparkling displays we need to see more of next season. But make no mistake, he will be playing a big role again next term, just perhaps with a more sustained or consistent output in the top third of the pitch.
Joel Bagan
Given Ryan Giles was signed by McCarthy as a winger, and Joe Bennett was released in the summer, Joel Bagan was thrust into the first-choice left-back slot from the beginning of the campaign. He was anointed the new No. 3 and almost given the reins with precious little experience behind him.
It was quite the show of faith by McCarthy and it had mixed results, it must be said. He has shown time and time again that he has a nice left foot and is generally solid enough defensively, but it all seems a bit of a confidence game for him.
He was exposed a little early on when he endured a sticky patch of form and he needed some time out of the side. Fortunately, when Morison came in, he stuck Giles back into a wing-back role and it gave Bagan some respite. The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international then went on a decent spell of form and astonishingly netted three goals in as many games back in February, forcing new loanee Alfie Doughty to fight his way back into contention.
But he was torn to shreds by Cyrus Christie in the South Wales derby and doesn't seem to have recovered. He has just reverted back into himself and is playing a bit more 'safety-first' football and it has hindered him in recent months.
He will have a part to play next season, there's little doubt about that, he has proved he can cut it at Championship level, albeit in small patches. The challenge now is for him to prove he can be a dependable left-back who can be dangerous, consistently, going forward next season.
Cardiff will definitely look to recruit in that area, though, because the 20-year-old needs competition and back-up as he continues to find his way.
Sam Bowen
Sam Bowen reported for pre-season a changed man, according to McCarthy. He looked fitter, more confident and a more complete player than what the manager and his assistant Terry Connor had seen towards the back end of the previous campaign.
"You can see his ability, but I have to say I could see he didn't do enough running, going forward or being positive enough," McCarthy said last August.
"TC and myself definitely tried to help him with that because he has got it in his locker. He is doing it now and he is a better player for it. Credit to him, he came back in pre-season fitter than he was when he left and I take my hat off to him. He's doing well."
Some fans were cautiously optimistic about his early-season performances, too. He played well against Brighton in the Carabao Cup and had a couple of decent league outings before injuring his foot. The change of manager doesn't seem to have helped his case, though. The midfielder, 21, has featured sporadically for the under-23s towards the back end of the season, while another setback ruled him out for the tail end of the campaign.
Other young players appear to have taken over him in the pecking order, too, and with Cardiff looking to recruit heavily in central midfielder this summer, it's difficult to see where Bowen features. He has a year left on his deal, so will it be a loan away? Or even a permanent? He will surely be wanting regular football now, at his age, but at this stage it appears that will be difficult to come by if he stays at the club next term.
Ollie Denham
The club clearly have a plan in place for Ollie Denham. They didn't want to loan him out back in January because they thought he might have a part to play in the second half of the season and that has proved to be the case.
He has six appearances to his name, including an FA Cup outing against Liverpool at Anfield, and has acquitted himself well enough in the last few Championship matches in which he has been selected.
The 20-year-old looks comfortable on the ball, seems to be a loud talker on the pitch and reads the game reasonably well. He has been outjumped and out outmuscled in the odd duel, but he will have time to pack out that frame and adapt to Championship life.
It's rare that centre-backs are afforded the luxury of learning on the job in the Championship. So often you see goalkeepers and central defenders loaned away to learn their trade - or even sold off before returning higher up the divisions later in their career.
But it appears Cardiff see something in Denham which could make him an asset in years to come. With Aden Flint, Sean Morrison and Ciaron Brown out of contract as things stand, the Bluebirds will look for reinforcements in that position this summer. They probably need an experienced centre-back or two to ensure their stable is well stocked.
But Denham, alongside Curtis Nelson, Perry Ng and Mark McGuinness who are currently ahead of him in the pecking order one would think, will hope that next season presents another learning opportunity for him and another chance to knock on the door.
Chanka Zimba
Scored goals for fun for Morison's under-23s and looked a shoo-in to make a decent impact at first-team level. He scored nine goals in 10 outings and, with the senior forwards misfiring, was banging on the door for first-team action.
He got his shot against Preston North End away and, it's fair to say, he struggled to get to grips with it all. He was hooked after 45 minutes and that was all she wrote.
But given his form at youth level, he attracted January interest from Northampton Town and went on loan there. A cruel hamstring injury struck and it curbed his progress with the Cobblers, much to the frustration of the player and both his loan and parent clubs.
It means, in all truth, that another loan away likely beckons. He has two more years left on his Cardiff contract, so time is on his side. He now needs to go out and bag some goals on a regular basis in the football league in order for the Bluebirds to ascertain whether he is worth a shot at Championship level.
He has scored once in 11 appearances for the Cobblers, making only two starts.
Kieron Evans
Kieron Evans, alongside Zimba and Davies, was the third and final part of Morison's vaunted forward line at under-23s level and it wasn't long before he got his chance to show what he could do under McCarthy with the first team.
He looked relatively bright in his few, fleeting cameo outings and indeed he was asked to start in Steve Morison's first two matches in charge. Doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?
But it was soon decided that he was not ready for the rigours of Championship football and he needed a spell away to get some senior minutes under his belt. His destination was rather left field in January, though, signing a loan deal with Belfast-based Linfield.
Frustratingly for Evans, though, he played only five times for the Northern Irish club, starting just twice.
The 20-year-old has one year remaining on his current Bluebirds deal and needs to find the perfect loan club next season to show Cardiff they have a player on their hands, otherwise his chance might just slip away.
Eli King
Eli King is a player Steve Morison clearly likes and is one of the youngsters who has usurped Sam Bowen in the pecking order.
King was given his debut in McCarthy's final game as Bluebirds boss, a defeat against Middlesbrough back in October, before making his first appearance under Morison against Liverpool at Anfield.
He was handed starts against Coventry City and most recently Birmingham City last weekend, but there is a way to go before the 19-year-old looks at home in a Championship midfield. Morison has already intimated that a loan away is a feasible option for the young Welshman next term.
"I’m really pleased with him and he is one who, if I am here, he will be fully a part of what we are doing next year," Morison said of King back in February.
"And if he is slightly off because of the people we bring in (this summer), he could have a really good loan, a bit like Ryan Wintle, and come back a different player.
"There are plans in place for every one of those young players and it’s just about me or someone else implementing them."
Jai Semenyo
One of the more promising of the next crop coming through, Jai Semenyo is another who made his debut up at Anfield against Liverpool back in January, albeit for a fleeting minute or two off the bench.
However, insiders at the academy are excited about the 18-year-old and hope he can progress over the coming years to stake a claim for that right-back berth in the first team.
Steve Morison believes now isn't the time to blood him in the first team, believing him not to be ready just yet. The manager said last month: " There are people who are in the under-23s now who are not quite ready to step up, the likes of Jai Semenyo, people like that, would be much more beneficial that they go and have a loan and prove somewhere else that they are good enough for a recall in January and will make a difference to our team. I think it’s imperative and really important."
A blistering first half of the season on loan somewhere could really thrust his name into contention, though. Cody Drameh is heading back to Leeds United and Perry Ng is probably seen as more of a centre-back at the minute, so there is a path there for him if he wants it enough.
Tom Davies
Another McCarthy debut at the start of the campaign, Tom Davies even registered an assist in Cardiff's 3-2 win over Sutton United.
The 18-year-old had impressed in pre-season, too, and had almost shot out of the blue as a contender to challenge Joel Bagan for that left-back berth.
But he has played all of the season, or the lion's share of it, with the under-23s with not so much as a sniff of a first-team call-up since that first game of the campaign against lowly Sutton.
The early-season excitement surrounding the left back has just quietened as the season has worn on, though. He will likely play another full season for Darren Purse's under-23s side next term.
Tavio d'Almeida
Tavio d'Almeida's one and only Cardiff City appearance came against Premier League outfit Brighton in the second round of the Carabao Cup back in August.
The central midfielder was deployed at right-back for that particular match and featured for the full 90 minutes. The Frenchman has regularly donned the captain's arm band for the under-23s, for whom he is a regular and consistent performer.
D'Almeida looked close to the first team when Neil Harris was in charge, impressing the first-team coaching staff during pre-season. But he has never really kicked on from then.
His contract expires next month and, in all likelihood, the player, who turns 22 this December, looks as though he could be looking for a new club this summer.
