He was only appointed initially as a short-term fix, but Mick McCarthy's good work at Cardiff City in the second half of the 2020-21 campaign was rewarded not long after he took over in South Wales.

The experienced manager steadied the ship at the Cardiff City Stadium and has got to work this summer with making little tweaks to his squad as there was no need for wholesale changes.

Harry Wilson was unable to return on loan and the likes of Joe Bennett and Junior Hoilett were released - and some shrewd moves have been made incoming-wise.

Mark McGuinness, James Collins and Ryan Wintle have all arrived permanently and a loan deal has been done for Ryan Giles, however talk of further signings have gone quiet and it's potential departures that have come to the fore-front.

Let's look at two transfer situations that may arise in the next couple of weeks as the end of the transfer window gets closer.

Mark Harris out?

According to The Sun (01/08, p59), young Cardiff forward Mark Harris is wanted by League One duo Fleetwood Town and Rotherham United for the 2021-22 campaign.

Capped 19 times by Wales' under-21's, the 22-year-old has been on three separate loan spells away from the Bluebirds in his career but managed to make somewhat of a breakthrough last season, making 16 appearances in the Championship - the majority under Neil Harris - and scored three times.

Harris could easily be a squad option next season for Cardiff, but the chance of regular football - at Rotherham more-so than Fleetwood as they've already got two young forwards in on loan - could be too hard to turn down.

Would Cardiff accept a loan offer though? They may need Harris as a back-up option off the bench as one of the players who supports Kieffer Moore at the top end of the pitch so it will be interesting to see what they do if an offer emerges.

 

 

 

 

Ciaron Brown out?

Another Cardiff player to emerge from the shadows last season was defender Ciaron Brown, who spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Scottish Premiership side Livingston before being recalled.

McCarthy gave him a chance though in March and Brown played at both centre-back and left-wing-back, proving to be good in both positions and it led to a first cap for Northern Ireland.

Those performances didn't go unnoticed by Neil Warnock either, who was manager of the Bluebirds when Brown arrived in January 2018 from Wealdstone and wants to take him to Middlesbrough, as reported by Football League World.

Boro's opening bid was rejected and it remains to be seen if another will go in, however they are desperate for a left-sided defender and this particular saga could rumble on a while longer.