Chelsea striker Islam Feruz keen to complete Cardiff City move ahead of Fulham clash
Chelsea striker Islam Feruz is keen to sign for Cardiff City and would love to make his debut in Saturday’s Championship home clash with Fulham.
Somali-born Feruz, 19, is on trial with the Bluebirds this week with a view to signing on loan until the end of this season.
The deal seemed to have collapsed over the weekend when Feruz’s previous representatives indicated he would not be coming.
But, after the former Celtic striker changed agents on Sunday, he made a late telephone call to Russell Slade asking if he would still be welcome.
“Islam is enjoying his time with Cardiff this week,” said Abdul Bihi, who works alongside Feruz’s new agent Dimitry Seluk.
“He has trained for the last two days, is keen to stay and would love to be involved against Fulham.
“There are other Championship clubs keen on Islam but Cardiff made the most serious proposal.”
Feruz still has four and a half years to run on his contract with Chelsea but Bihi says he is keen to continue his learning by playing alongside Bluebirds striker Kenwyne Jones.
“He needs to play and learn. The next loan spell will be crucial to his development,” he said.
“I can see him forming an effective partnership with Kenwyne Jones. They would work well together.”
Jones looks certain to start against Fulham after scoring his 10th goal of the season during Cardiff’s 3-1 FA Cup win against Colchester. Manager Slade will assess Feruz in training this week and have talks with the striker and his representatives.
Bolton and Bournemouth are among the clubs who have made their interest in Feruz clear, but Cardiff are his first choice.
Slade is keen to strengthen City’s attack by adding one or two new signings.
Nicky Maynard and Etien Velikonja are out of favour and likely to move on this month, while Federico Macheda failed to take his chance when he started against Colchester.
Adam Le Fondre has been a regular in City’s starting line-up but has only netted two goals in 23 appearances.
Source: walesonline