This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more

Cardiff City are reportedly monitoring the progress of Accrington Stanley forward Dion Charles, according to The Sun's Tom Barclay.

Charles has scored 17 goals in 32 games in League One this season, netting 18 times in 39 appearances across all competitions.

The 25-year-old was handed his debut for Northern Ireland last month, too, with the forward having a superb season on a personal level.

With his contract expiring in the summer, Accrington do have the option to extend it by a further year, but Championship clubs are beginning to circle.

Derby, Huddersfield and Cardiff have all been linked with the signing of the 25-year-old, as per The Sun's Tom Barclay.

Here, we discuss Cardiff's reported interest in Charles...

Ned Holmes

There's a lot to like about Dion Charles and he could certainly be an interesting addition to the Cardiff squad.

In Kieffer Moore, they already have a quality striker and focal point for their attack but with both likes of Harry Wilson and Sheyi Ojo set to return to Liverpool at the end of the season, adding some more quality could be a smart move.

Max Watters looks a bright talent but given Cardiff will likely want to push for the play-offs next season, you'd question how much he can be relied upon meaning more depth is needed.

Charles could provide that and assuming Wilson and Ojo don't return next season, there's no reason he couldn't cement himself a place in the starting XI – though it's unlikely that would be by replacing Moore.

Toby Wilding

I do think that this could be a decent signing for Cardiff if they can pull it off.

They do look to be rather short on reliable goalscoring cover for Kieffer Moore in the centre forward position at the minute, so that may be a position they want to address in the summer transfer window.

Charles' record for Accrington is certainly promising in terms of suggesting that he could do that, and he could well be affordable for the Bluebirds as well, meaning this could be well worth looking into for them.

However, with Cardiff often playing with Moore as sole centre forward this season, I'm not convinced that Charles would walk straight into the side were he to make the move to Wales, considering both the form that Moore has been in this season, and the fact he could need time to adapt to that step up in level with a move to the Championship.

Chris Thorpe

I've got a lot of time for Charles this season, he's really carved out a good career for himself in the humble surroundings of Accrington and is finally getting noticed by clubs in the higher divisions.

He would be a good signing but I don't see him getting into Cardiff's starting eleven, there's far too much competition up top.

There's no doubting that he would be a great option for them but I think McCarthy is more likely to utilise him from the bench.

In short there are plenty of other clubs that Charles would be better suited to in terms of guaranteed game time and for that reason I think he would be wise to not move to the Bluebirds.