West Brom defender Cedric Kipre is among a list of central defenders on Cardiff City's transfer radar, with Baggies boss Steve Bruce confirming the player is "close" to leaving the club.
The Bluebirds on Wednesday added their 11th signing of the summer with the capture of Sheyi Ojo on a two-year deal following the winger's release from Liverpool. Now, attention will turn to the last remaining areas of the squad which need bolstering.
Steve Morison is keen to get in at least one other striker, a transfer requirement which is more prescient now James Collins has sealed his move to Derby County, and also wants to bring in a centre-back.
And WalesOnline understands Kipre is a player Cardiff have taken a look at in recent months. It is understood the player, who has two years left to run on his contract, is available for a loan move.
He was absent for West Brom's pre-season friendly game against Northampton Town on Wednesday night and Bruce told BirminghamLive after the match: “With Kipre we are close with another club, so we didn’t want to take any risks."
Both Aden Flint and Ciaron Brown left the Bluebirds at the end of last season, while Sean Morrison is still rehabilitating following his ACL injury against Barnsley back in February - quite what the future holds for him remains to be seen.
So it leaves Curtis Nelson alongside the relatively inexperienced duo of Mark McGuinness and Oliver Denham as the club's options at the heart of defence, while Perry Ng appears to have made the transition inside from right-back permanent.
But it is understood another centre-back is still very much a priority this summer and Kipre, who fell out of favour at The Hawthorns last year, is available for a move. The 25-year-old did not play for the Baggies after January last season and was in and out of the side at the start of the campaign, too.
Kipre certainly fits the profile of what Cardiff are looking for. The Ivorian is a ball-playing centre-back and fits the Bluebirds' transfer criteria of making the squad more mobile.
The defender came through the academy system at Paris Saint-Germain before swapping the French capital for Leicester City in 2014. He failed to break into the Foxes' first team, however, and joined Motherwell for a season in 2017. After two years at Wigan Athletic he joined West Brom, for whom he has made 19 appearances since joining in 2020.
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