What Cardiff City's perfect summer looks like as Bulut situation resolved and transfer priority nailed

Cardiff City head into the summer with a number of issues to nail down if they are to build on the progress made this season.

Erol Bulut steered a club which had finished just above the relegation spots for the last two seasons to the relative comfort of mid-table, doing so with a transfer embargo last summer and a January window which had to be ripped up and started again in the final two days.

It's not been smooth sailing, but the vast majority of fans appreciate the club have made a good fist of it this season and numerous see green shoots of positivity which can act as a springboard for next term.

So, what needs to happen this summer in order for Cardiff to gatecrash the top six, as will no doubt be the ambition, next season? We take a look at what the perfect summer looks like...

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Sort out the Bulut saga

Yes, quite clearly, this is the biggie. While this won't be an issue which drags on all summer — we expect a decision to be communicated by the end of the week — it holds the key to all forward planning.

Bulut flew home to Turkey this week to be with his wife and children after a relatively successful but no less arduous season in the Welsh capital. His coaching staff have all now left, too, going to their respective families in Germany, Turkey and Greece as they await decisions on their own future. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

The latest as we understand it is that there is an offer currently with Bulut and the length of the deal is the potential sticking point. Bulut has spoken about extending his coaching staff and restructuring the scouting and recruitment network, but ultimately, that's not going to form any part of the contract.

Bulut insists there is a project to be built at Cardiff and will want job security while he carries that work out. He has ambitions of improving this season's 12th-placed finish and is on record as stating his lofty ambitions for next term, if given the opportunity.

Vincent Tan, on the other hand, was burnt massively with the two-year contract he handed out to Mick McCarthy after the former Republic of Ireland boss's positive start in Cardiff. That has seen a succession of managers placed under short-term deals following his dismissal.

The decision still hangs in the balance and there are many inside the club who want the manager to be here next season. It will be a blow to many if he's not. If there is another search for a new boss, it will be energy-sapping and potentially time-consuming – with the club at risk of starting next season behind the eight ball, so to speak. Speed is key but hope remains a deal can be struck with the incumbent manager.

Nail transfer priority

Another window cannot pass Cardiff by without at least one top-class, Championship-quality striker through the door.

Only Kieffer Moore has succeeded to any real degree as a striker at this club in the last six years or so, save a half-season salvo of goals from Sory Kaba last year, and the lack of goals and focal point has really hit Cardiff hard in recent seasons.

Cardiff are free from the shackles of a transfer embargo this summer and it's always easier to do your best work in the off-season window. How much money Tan wants to part with is another issue, of course. But goals cost money, unfortunately for the Bluebirds owner. Goals also get you promoted, which should at least pique the owner's interest.

Tan has been burnt by expensive striker signings in the past and you can sympathise with his reticence to fork out big money. But if you're going to splash out on anything, it has to be a striker.

More was expected of Yakou Miete, Kion Etete has not kicked on as the club would have hoped and Famara Diedhiou netted twice, but looked lacklustre outside of those two moments. Isaak Davies will return confident after notching double figures for KV Kortrijk this season, but expectation should be tempered for him next term, although he will add some much-needed pace.

Wingers are just as important in terms of providing chances and goals, and Cardiff need some heavy recruitment there, too. Josh Bowler and Karlan Grant have returned to their parent clubs and Cardiff are now left seriously struggling for wide options with a catalogue of goals at this level.

Get money in

In order for Cardiff to be able to spend, they must start changing the narrative around the squad and sell players when they have a net-positive transfer value. All clubs at this level do it in order to stay afloat or even thrive and that's what Cardiff have been poor at in recent years.

This summer it feels like there is a real opportunity to start generating cash through sales and then, in turn, the ability to reinvest that money to fund a better squad for next season becomes viable.

As much as the club would like to see the likes of Perry Ng stay, most fans appreciate that he's probably earned his shot at a top-flight club somewhere and Cardiff could get a decent fee for him, given he penned a new contract at the beginning of the season.

The club are likely to be braced for offers for their exciting youngsters, particularly after the half-season Mark McGuinness produced and the progression Rubin Colwill has shown this term. Bulut has already said that Premier League clubs are now looking at the Wales international.

A huge chunk of wages is expected to be axed this summer, too. Cardiff paid a big chunk of loan players' salaries this season in order to offset the fact they couldn't spend last summer. That outlay will, hopefully, return to a lower level this summer and it will create some more wriggle room in the budget.

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Solve looming defensive issue

There is a quietly looming concern with the club's defence which has to be addressed in the summer, too.

As mentioned, Ng and McGuinness could be the subject of transfer interest from elsewhere, while Nat Phillips and Josh Wilson-Esbrand have gone back to Liverpool and Man City respectively. It leaves the back-line looking pretty bare boned.

That leaves Mahlon Romeo, Dimitrios Goutas and Jamilu Collins. Provided Bulut, or a new manager, doesn't see Callum O'Dowda as a left-back, it means Cardiff have to bolster all across that back line, one suspects. Yes, Joel Bagan will be returning from his loan at Zulte Waragem and the untested Ryotaro Tsunoda will come to Cardiff from his loan at KV Kortrijk, but the Bluebirds will likely want more robust options than that.

Cardiff's back line has been pretty solid for the lion's share of the campaign, but they ended up shipping a lot of goals by the time the season had finished, so improvements can definitely be made there. They allowed 70 goals to be scored against them, only Blackburn Rovers, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United conceded more.

It'll be interesting to see how the Bluebirds address that area of the pitch and how much money they are willing to pump into the recruitment. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

Line up positive loans for the kids

Cardiff have taken positive strides in recent years with regards to their approach to young players at the club.

They have been far more active in terms of wanting to send them out on loan, which has a knock-on effect for those left at the club who have to step up age groups to fill in the gaps, in turn advancing their development.

The club currently have the likes of Isaak Davies, Eli King, Joel Bagan, Xavier Benjamin, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Tom Davies, Ryan Kavanagh, Kieron Evans, James Crole, Ollie Denham, Jacob Dennis and Chanka Zimba out on loan – all of whom have played in Cardiff's academy.

They are having differing volumes of game-time, as expected, but those life experiences and, by and large, experiences in a first-team environment will likely do them more good than being stuck in academy football.

We have seen over the last few weeks that academy kids, when stepping up, can make an impact when trusted to do so. Cian Ashford, Raheem Conte, Joel Colwill and Luey Giles have all performed admirably when afforded the opportunity.

The Bluebirds academy, with its new, state-of-the-art facility in Llanrumney, is something Tan really is passionate about. Credit must be given to him for the money he invested in that project and the desire he has for seeing Welsh talent progress at the club.

But for players to go on and have careers in the game, decisions at this stage of their development are crucial. Cardiff have found a number of really good loans for their youngsters, but have had a lot of misses, too.

If Cardiff can build on the work they have done this season with regards to sending their youngsters out, it could have a real benefit for the future of the club. Equally, they have to decide which of these youngsters are sticking around and pushing for first-team places next season.

But they cannot drop the ball. They have to start that planning in earnest at the earliest convenience.