The lessons Erol Bulut learned from first Cardiff City transfer window as exciting summer now looms

Excitement is slowly ramping up at Cardiff City this summer. Erol Bulut has signed a new deal, the transfer window is open and the Bluebirds are looking to build on a mid-table finish next term.

Supporters have every right to be brimming with anticipation ahead of next season and Bulut himself is understood to be champing at the bit to get back in the saddle and continue to build on the foundations laid last term.

The club are positive and hopeful that next season will bring more progression and even a tilt at the top portion of the table. But they have a transfer window to navigate first, of course.

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Bulut came into the job last year confident that he could re-energise the club and while he did that, it was likely a trickier job — and division — than he had bargained for. He will be far better for that experience, of course.

There will be lessons learned from his first summer in British football. While Cardiff experienced two tough transfer windows for different reasons — although they did well considering the circumstances — the manager will want a better hit-rate this summer as the club zero in on quality over quantity.

That is perhaps not so much of a lesson, per se, because Cardiff's busy summer last year was borne out of necessity after the previous iteration of the Bluebirds' squad had seen them narrowly avoid relegation. They had to pump quality in, without being able to pay transfer fees, and were extremely creative and proactive in how they did that.

This time around, the feeling is that there is a really good basis of a squad there, at the very least there is a strong core of 15 or so players, and that a few key positions simply need addressing to bolster their chances of a play-off charge. A striker, a winger who can score goals and a commanding midfielder are all on the shopping list. Centre-back is also a consideration, too.

One lesson Cardiff will have to learn centres around their Kieffer Moore chase. The feeling, probably rightly so, was that Moore could have transformed Cardiff's fortunes last season with a dozen or so goals, which he is more than capable of at this level. Members of the club's hierarchy, as well as his friends and team-mates, were pushing for a deal to be done. But that did not transpire, nor did it in January.

Some fear Cardiff will put all their eggs in a Kieffer Moore-shaped basket again but we are assured that is not the case. We are told Cardiff want a striker with Championship experience, a big tick in the Moore box right there, but will not limit themselves to looking at just the Wales man. Cardiff's other options have to be high-calibre because it is such an important position. It's one that wins you promotion, invariably.

City have a lot going for them if they did pursue Moore – he looks unlikely to continue at Bournemouth, he has lots of friends still in Cardiff, he has happy memories of his time with the club and Wales train at the same base. But Ike Ugbo, who started well but didn't really seem to ever fit what Bulut wanted, and Famara Diedhiou were ultimately disappointing second choices. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

Bulut will also have learned what he needs to really get his style of football going. City started off in a really positive fashion but hit the buffers rapidly about a third of the way through the season. Fans are calling for a more adventurous, attacking style of football on the whole and are probably within their rights to do so. As Bulut said in his own words at the weekend: "Some fans use the last of their salary to come to the stadium and buy tickets. They want to see good football and they want their team to win."

It's fair to say Cardiff's brand of football was not always consistent nor was it carried out to the best of the players' abilities at times. Bulut will have identified the holes he needs to plug in order to get City out of second gear and playing on the front foot again.

Another really encouraging learning from last season as a whole is that Bulut will now, City fans hope, have more trust in youth. He threw in the likes of Cian Ashford, Raheem Conte and Luey Giles at the end of last season and they didn't let him down. It would be a crying shame if any of these youngsters go backwards or stagnate after such a bright end to the campaign for them all.

Returning academy products Isaak Davies, Eli King and Joel Bagan will also come back better players. It's a pretty hefty squad and Bulut must now find that perfect blend, but it's a really good headache for him to have. It also affords them scope to allow a few sales to go through — the right ones, of course — and for Cardiff to finally get some return on their investments.

Another really important lesson the club will have learned, more than perhaps Bulut himself, is that players from the continent can thrive in the Championship. Getting fully-fledged internationals in Manolis Siopis and Dimitrios Goutas and seeing how they thrived in a City shirt will be extremely encouraging. We are told Cardiff are looking hard for players in Europe again this summer and after the success of those pair last season, you can see why. And perhaps it will convince Vincent Tan that forking out for top-end players in European leagues can have a major benefit for his own team.

But it is all gearing up for the continuation of the club's positive momentum thanks to Bulut's first campaign in charge. If you take a look at the squad in its current guise, striker aside, the club looks really well stocked. Two quality 'keepers in Ethan Horvath and Jak Alnwick. Conte, Perry Ng and Mahlon Romeo at right-back — although that situation could change — and Jamilu Collins, Bagan and Callum O'Dowda as options on the other flank, not to mention Giles, of course. Centre-back could do with back-up, but Mark McGuinness and Goutas are fine centre-halves at this level.

In midfield, a stable of Joe Ralls, Manolis Siopis, Ryan Wintle and Eli King gives Bulut options and that is without the midfielder signing the club desperately craves. Ebou Adams and Andy Rinomhota have question marks hanging over their futures, while young Joel Colwill is thought of highly by many within the club.

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City have also never been so well stocked at No.10. Aaron Ramsey, who could be the difference-maker if he remains fit, Rubin Colwill, off the back of his best season yet, and David Turnbull, who comes with a big, goalscoring reputation but is yet to really hit his straps, give Bulut a plethora of options.

On the wing, O'Dowda, Ollie Tanner, Yakou Meite, Ashford, Callum Robinson, plus a top winger, which we are told the club are looking at, seems a healthy cohort. As mentioned, strikers are needed.

One hopes Bulut has learned to be more flexible in those positions at the top end of the pitch, too. If Ramsey is fit to start, Colwill can move out wide and operate as a Phil Foden-type playmaker out on the wing. If the main striker isn't working, give someone like Robinson a chance through the middle, if he is here by the time the season begins. Bulut was reticent to do that with Karlan Grant last season and some believe that was to the team's detriment.

Even in midfield, playing Turnbull a little deeper to accommodate the Scot, Ramsey and Colwill, at home and especially against perceived weaker opposition, is a really attacking option. The rigidity of that Cardiff system and the players within it last season did have a negative impact at times. But Cardiff signed players who are versatile and it's hoped Bulut will use all of their versatility to make things uncomfortable for opposition teams.

But it's an important summer for Cardiff and one which they hope will transform their club from a mid-table side to a top-half side. Lessons have been learned, knowledge has been gained and there is a squad with real potential to kick on next term. A few quality additions, in key, targeted areas of the squad, and things could just get exciting.