Tonight's Cardiff City transfer news as Bakasetas replacement deal lined up and Bluebirds braced for update

These are your Cardiff City headlines on Wednesday, January 3

These are your Cardiff City headlines on Wednesday, January 3

Bakasetas replacement deal lined up

Trabzonspor are lining up Legia Warsaw midfielder Bartosz Slisz to replace Anastasios Bakasetas, who they expect to leave the club this month.

Cardiff have long been linked with the midfielder, who is attracting plenty of attention from other clubs. Fatih Terim, who has taken over as head coach of Panathinaikos, has expressed an interest in the Greek star, according to Skorer.

They state that if an official offer is received for Bakasetas then a "parting of ways" may occur. Get the latest Cardiff City news sent straight to your inbox for free with our daily newsletter.

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They have turned to former target Slisz to replace him should that happen. They have already scouted him but have competition, with Serie A clubs Atalanta and Lecce also keen on him.

Cardiff are keen to bolster their midfield ranks this month.

Bluebirds braced for Grant news

Cardiff are anxiously waiting for news on Karlan Grant, who underwent scans at hospital yesterday.

The attacker injured his hamstring in the defeat to Leicester City on Boxing Day, and in truth it didn't look good for the on-loan man, with Erol Bulut mentioning the word "rupture" at the time.

A scan was carried was carried out yesterday to discover the severity of the damage. Now Cardiff wait.

After QPR, Bulut said of Grant: "Tomorrow we will have the scan, because the hospitals have been closed, so we couldn't get a scan. So it will be tomorrow. I will know more what he has.

"I hope it is not something serious because, OK, it is January, we will try to make some transfers, but we need these players to come back quickly."

Lawrence handed Pools job

Former Cardiff boss Lennie Lawrence has been handed the reins at Hartlepool United.

The veteran manager has taken over on an interim basis following the sacking of John Askey on December 30.

In a statement, Pools said: "Lennie Lawrence has been named as caretaker manager ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Oxford City.

"The former Charlton, Middlesbrough and Luton boss will be assisted by first-team coach Antony Sweeney." Lawrence, 76, joined the club as a non-executive director in November 2022.

Purse's reflections

Under-21s manager Darren Purse has reflected on the last 12 months for him and his side. He says his main goal in 2024 is getting some of the lads out on loan to experience men's football.

It's been a transitional year for Purse and his charges.

“2023 was exactly what it should be for the U21 side, which is a development year," he said. "We are a very young side, especially with the long-term injuries we’ve had for some of our more experienced players, which gave a lot of our younger boys an opportunity to get plenty of really good minutes with the U21s. We looked to finish the year really well in the last few games, while getting minutes into the boys who have been coming back from injury.

“The thing I’m most looking forward to in 2024 is for some of the lads to get out on loan and see how good they are at playing men’s football, continuing both their learning journey and adapting their game further. That’s the thing that I’m really looking forward to, as well as looking at the second year scholars who will be stepping up to play with us as they aim to continue with professional contracts at this football club.”