Cardiff City have endured a very challenging start to the Championship season that has seen them go through an awful period of form that has left down the wrong end of the table.
The Bluebirds did not actually get off to a bad start in the first few weeks of the season under Mick McCarthy. Things soon turned sour and Cardiff suffered a dismal run of eight straight Championship defeats that led to them making the decision to part ways with their experienced manager.
A successor to McCarthy is yet to be appointed by the Bluebirds, with Steve Morrison instead helping to stabilise their form in the Championship so far in caretaker charge.
Whoever Cardiff appoints as their next permanent manager or head coach, the January transfer window will be a vital period for them to try and get the squad in a better place to improve their form in the New Year.
It will be vital that the next manager is offered enough backing in the transfer market to improve the squad. That could well mean that some players need to leave first in order to raise the funds needed to add to the squad.
With that in mind, we take a look at TWO players that the Bluebirds could either sell or loan in January as part of a rebuild under a new manager…
Ciaron Brown
One player that Cardiff could potentially lose during the January transfer window is defender Ciaron Brown.
That comes with him set to be out of contract at the end of the campaign, and that means that the Bluebirds are running the risk of potentially losing him on a free transfer next summer.
Recouping some money for the defender now might be a wise approach for Cardiff if it becomes clear that he will not be signing a new deal with the club.
That is because any funds that they got for Brown could then be reinvested into the squad by the new manager or head coach in the winter window.
Brown attracted plenty of transfer interest in the summer with Middlesbrough having been reported to be one of the sides that were wanting to make a move for him. However, Cardiff managed to keep hold of the versatile 23-year-old, but there have since been reports that Rangers could also be interested in making a pre-contract move for him.
The defender has only been able to feature five times for Cardiff in the Championship this term, the last of those came in McCarthy’s final game in charge against Middlesbrough last month.
It might therefore be that the new manager decides that his long-term future does lie away from the Cardiff City Stadium.
Kieffer Moore
Considering that Kieffer Moore has started to finally re-find some form under the caretaker regime of Morrison at Cardiff. That comes with the Wales international firing home three goals in the last three matches, selling him in January is something that the Bluebirds might hope to avoid.
However, Moore attracted a lot of transfer interest in the summer, with Wolves the club that made the most serious attempt to sign him. In the end though, the Premier League side were put off by the valuation placed on the forward by the Bluebirds.
There have been one or two reports though that the Bluebirds could be facing some financial difficulties at the moment in the run-up to the winter window.
Therefore, it might be difficult for them to turn down a sizeable offer for Moore should one come their way during the January transfer window.
The one positive that would emerge from selling Moore is that funds would suddenly come available for a new manager to re-shape the squad the way that they would want to. However, selling their main goalscorer at that stage in the campaign would be a major risk.