Cardiff City have announced four new signings for their under-21s side.
While Erol Bulut and the first team are in negotiations for up to three players, with the club hopeful of seeing meaningful movement on those fronts next week — you can read more about that here — under-21s boss Darren Purse and academy chief Gavin Chesterfield have moved to bring in four new faces to freshen up the youth team next season.
Cardiff have looked to strengthen their attacking department both at senior and under-21s level this summer, with the club announcing the signing for forwards Michael Reindorf and Luke Pearce.
Reindorf, 19, can play either as an attacking midfielder or a striker and joins the Bluebirds after seeing his Norwich City contract expire a few days ago. The playmaker, who qualifies for both England and Ghana, spent the second half of last season out on loan with Kettering Town.
Ex-Southampton youngster Luke Pearce has also joined the club. The 20-year-old has played for the Saints’ youth and B sides in recent years, while he, too, had loan stints in non-League last year with Torquay United, Weston-super-Mare and Dover Athletic.
While he endured mixed fortunes on loan, he came back to Southampton and dominated in Premier League 2 in the second half of the season, netting seven goals in 11 games for the young Saints. The Republic of Ireland youth international left the south coast club with 17 goals in 39 games for Southampton B.
Cardiff have also confirmed the capture of midfielder Adeteye Gbadehan. The box-to-box player, who qualifies for the USA, Nigeria and England, went on trial with Premier League side Brentford last summer and caught the eye of top-flight-bound Southampton, too. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.
The 20-year-old penned a short-term contract with League One side Port Vale last summer, which initially took him up until January 2024 with a view to extending. However, on November 18, the club announced ‘the registration of midfielder Adeteye Gbadahan has been rejected by the relevant football authorities and due to this the 19-year-old will return now return to the United States’. The player later explained he did not get international clearance, but confirmed he is a British citizen.
That move breaking down saw Cardiff offer him a trial and he is understood to have impressed. But given the failed Port Vale move it was unclear as to whether he was a free agent. But Cardiff have eventually got their man.
The fourth signing is the capture of goalkeeper Ewan Griffiths, who was on trial with the Bluebirds at the end of last season. The 18-year-old Wales youth international joins after leaving Swansea.
Speaking about the new recruits, under-21s boss Darren Purse said: “I’m really excited. If you look at the U21s squad, it’s another evolution for us. The opportunity is there for the players that have gone up to the first team and now, we’ve got the next ones coming through at U21 level.
“We’ve added a bit of experience onto that with the additions that we have made. The players that we have signed will help the ones that we currently have in the building, and we’ll have real competition for places, which will be really healthy for us going forward.”
Academy manager Gavin Chesterfield added: “We wanted to add a little bit of experience to what will continue to be a very young U21 side this season. All four players add something different to the team and they have already integrated well with their new team-mates.”
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