FLW takes a look at the players that are out of contract at the Cardiff City Stadium next summer.
Aside from their remarkable summer transfer that has provided up to nine refreshing captures, Cardiff City have also conducted impressive business in tying down some of their most prized assets beyond next year.
The potential of young defender Mark McGuiness has never been short of discussion, and the Bluebirds have now ensured that it will be developed further in South Wales by agreeing a new deal that sees him remain with the club until 2027.
In addition, Ryan Wintle and Perry Ng – both of whom arrived from Crewe Alexandra in 2021 – were also due to see their deals expire at the end of the current campaign, but have since penned fresh respective terms running for the next three years, too.
Extending the deals of McGuinness, Wintle and Ng are shrewd moves from Cardiff, though they face many more contractual decisions over the course of the season with some first-teamers out of contract next summer.
Here, we take a look at them…
Joe Ralls
Club captain Joe Ralls is a player that Erol Bulut will undoubtedly be keen to hold onto beyond this season.
Ralls has spent the entirety of his club career in the Welsh capital barring a loan spell to then-Championship side Yeovil Town during the 2013-14 campaign, and his influence on proceedings has not diminished in recent years despite some injury struggles.
He signed a new two-year deal last summer, but expect him to be putting pen to paper once again before long.
Rubin Colwill 
Fresh off the back of a br eakthrough campaign into Cardiff’s first team in the 2020/21 campaign, academy graduate Rubin Colwill signed a three-year deal that summer.
Since then, it must be said, the Welsh playmaker has endured plenty of peaks and troughs.
From finishing as his side’s joint-top scorer in the Championship in 2021/22, scoring his first international goal and even finding the back of the net in an FA Cup tie at Liverpool to seeing last season completely destroyed by injury setbacks, trials and tribulations have been more prominent over the last twelve months.
Still, he has made a big impression in recent weeks with consecutive EFL Cup strikes against Colchester United and Birmingham City, and while it is unclear what role he will have in Bulut’s team following an injection of new attacking options over the summer, there is absolutely no chance that Cardiff will want to let a player of such rich potential leave for nothing.
Romaine Sawyers
On the other hand, it feels next to impossible that Romaine Sawyers will be a Bluebirds player this time next year.
Signed on a two-year deal as part of Steve Morison’s eventually-ill-fated squad upheaval, Sawyers’ glimpses of technical brilliance have been overshadowed by inconsistency and laboured athleticism in the middle of the park that has seen him sharply shoot down the pecking order.
The midfielder was primed to leave this summer but nothing was agreed before the deadline, although a potential contract termination by mutual consent is not outside the realm of possibility either.
A good, highly-regarded professional with refined attributes on the ball, Sawyers still has plenty to offer somewhere- but that will not be at Cardiff.
Jamilu Collins
One of the more intriguing cases on this list, Jamilu Collins’ situation at Cardiff after this season finishes still remains largely unknown.
The 18-cap Nigerian international arrived last summer from Paderborn and looked right up there among the division’s very finest full-backs during his opening four games with the club, only to suffer a season-ending ACL injury in August during their trip to West Bromwich Albion.
Unsurprisingly, Collins has showed shaky signs following his return to action, and whether he recovers well on the pitch will surely dictate whether he is offered new terms or not.
Jak Alnwick
One of the more intriguing cases on this list, Jamilu Collins’ situation at Cardiff after this season finishes still remains largely unknown.
The 18-cap Nigerian international arrived last summer from Paderborn and looked right up there among the division’s very finest full-backs during his opening four games with the club, only to suffer a season-ending ACL injury in August during their trip to West Bromwich Albion.
Unsurprisingly, Collins has showed shaky signs following his return to action, and whether he recovers well on the pitch will surely dictate whether he is offered new terms or not.
