Cardiff City are desperate to hit the ground running next season after two disappointing campaigns.
With a new manager in Erol Bulut and exciting announcements promised in the coming weeks, there is an air of cautious pre-season optimism in some corners of the Bluebirds fan base.
What will Bulut's first few weeks as Cardiff manager look like, though? Well, the manager, who will arrive back in Cardiff on Friday after going to the Champions League final in Turkey and will attend the Wales v Armenia game at the stadium, has hinted that he would haul his charges in early this summer and that is indeed the case. For the latest Cardiff news sent straight to your inbox, sign up here
Bluebirds players will report for pre-season duty as early as Monday, June 19, in order to meet their new gaffer and for him to cast a beady eye over them as he forms a better image in his mind of what he needs in this summer's transfer window.
Bulut is thought to be a hard taskmaster and a disciplinarian, there was even talk that some players might even get a rude awakening when they pitch up for pre-season. He will take no prisoners, that's for sure.
That first day will coincide with Cardiff's home strip being launched. The club announced that the blue, New Balance home shirt will be launched on Monday, in a week which will also see Cardiff find out next season's fixtures. The away strip will be released at a later date.
Next Thursday, June 22, the EFL will release the schedule for the 2023/24 Championship campaign as well as the Carabao Cup, with the first round draw taking place later that afternoon after the league fixtures are announced at 9am.
The transfer window officially opened on Wednesday, June 14, but the international transfer window does not start until July 1. That means, given Bulut has targets abroad, it could be a couple of weeks yet until City start making serious moves.
Cardiff want as many as 10 fresh faces in the building this summer. They will be a mix of UK and foreign signings, as well as a combination of loan transfers and free agents. The club have appealed to the EFL to have their ban on paying fees for players lifted, however they still await the outcome of that. They are currently working on the proviso that they will be unable to spend money, but if the ban is taken away in this window then it will be viewed very much as a welcome bonus.
Bulut has targets lined up immediately that he wants to pull the trigger on, while he is also content to wait until the final throes of the window, when clubs have decided whether fringe players might be better served heading out on loan, so expect activity at both ends of the summer.
One target was drawn up before Bulut's arrival, though, with Mehmet Dalman confirming it before the new manager's appointment. Dalman said during Bulut's unveiling that big announcements were on the way and told the Supporters' Trust an "exciting" signing was lined up. The chairman was even confident of selling their full allocation on the strength of the announcements to come.
A sensational homecoming for Aaron Ramsey has subsequently been touted, with the Nice playmaker refusing to rule it out when asked while on Wales duty earlier this week. He did, however, say his next move would be centred around bringing his family unit together for good, with his wife and children based in south Wales. The Wales skipper said his future is still undecided and more would be revealed in the coming weeks.
As for their pre-season trip, Cardiff have not been on a foreign camp since they visited America under Neil Warnock, however a jaunt to Portugal awaits them next months.
When Bulut arrived he ripped up the plan which was in place out in Portugal and has put his own slant on things out there. They will head out to Portugal next month but will be back in time for the pre-season friendly against Wycombe taking place on Saturday, July 29. It is understood Cardiff are looking to play at least one game while in the Algarve, but full details regarding dates and the friendly fixture are due in the coming days.
"Well, I thought we could (say something about pre-season plans), but Erol just tore it all up! We have to start all over again," chairman Mehmet Dalman said at Bulut's unveiling last week.
"We can say we have Portugal lined up. Portugal is done - the Algarve. But Erol has already ripped it up. He wants to look at it and re-plan it and we will do that."
The new boss will be assessing his players both pre-Portugal and during the camp abroad, with Cardiff likely to look to shed some timber from what is quite a bloated but relatively inexperienced squad. They will certainly be open to sanctioning some loan moves.
Some players have been blasting themselves on individual pre-season training camps, especially those who have suffered injuries. Callum Robinson headed out to Dubai for warm-weather training after finishing his maiden campaign at Cardiff injured. Oliver Denham has also done some extra-curricular training after an injury-hit season, while Jamilu Collins' return-to-full-training time frame is around about now, so he can expect to ramp up his numbers in the coming days and weeks.
Other players are away on international duty. Romaine Sawyers (St Kitts and Nevis), Callum O'Dowda (Republic of Ireland), Ebou Adams (Gambia) Rubin Colwill and Eli King (both Wales under-21s) are all hopeful of getting minutes in the tank before meeting Bulut after the international break.
Indeed, Adams, who is yet to play for Cardiff's senior team after an injury-ravaged first campaign in the Welsh capital, played a full 90 minutes in Gambia 3-2 win over South Sudan on Wednesday night, which is a positive sign indeed. Patience, of course, will be needed from Cardiff fans over the coming months with him, though, given he last played competitive club football at League Two level before sustaining his injuries.
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