Cardiff City were interested in signing Sunderland centre-back Danny Batth.
Cardiff City had been keen on signing Danny Batth from Sunderland, but EFL restrictions meant they weren’t able to finalise the deal for the centre-back who subsequently joined Norwich.
Cardiff City miss out on Danny Batth
It was a ridiculously busy summer for the Bluebirds, who brought in Erol Bulut as their new head coach, and they backed the boss in what was a productive summer window.
Whilst the squad looks in decent shape, the Welsh side were looking to do a late deal, and Sun reporter Alan Nixon has revealed that they were lining up a move for Batth, who was free to leave Sunderland.
Even though the experienced defender was a key figure for the Black Cats last season, it became apparent he would be free to move on from the Stadium of Light in the window, as Sunderland looked to lower their average age in the group.
However, the update stated that Cardiff ‘were blocked from doing the deal because of their EFL signing restrictions’.
It’s no secret that the club have had off-field issues which resulted in them operating under a transfer embargo, and whilst that was lifted to allow some transfers to be done, they were only looking at players on a free and loans, as they had to stay in the limits set by the Football League.
Norwich sign Danny Batth
As it transpired, Batth would depart Sunderland before the 11pm deadline on Friday, as he sealed a very late switch to Norwich.
With Nottingham Forest making a late move to sign Andrew Omobamidele from the Canaries in a transfer worth an initial £11m, David Wagner was searching for a replacement, and they managed to bring Batth in.
The former Wolves man will compete with Shane Duffy and Ben Gibson for a place in the XI, and ensure that Norwich have cover for a key position over the coming months.
Given the lack of time that the Yellows had to sign a defender after Omobamidele’s exit, they will be really pleased to have got this done
Are Cardiff short in central defence?
Whilst this was a blow for the Bluebirds, as Batth would have been a smart signing, it wasn’t all bad news for Cardiff on deadline day, as they did win the race to sign Jonathan Panzo from Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan.
The England youth international will provide another body at the back, and he will bring balance to the team as he can play on the left side, whilst his ability in possession should help the side as they look to build-up play.
So, it will have been a real relief for Cardiff that they managed to get Panzo in, and he will hope to become an important player for the side during the campaign.
Panzo made his debut for Cardiff as a substitute as they fell to a 3-2 defeat at Ipswich Town on Saturday, which was hugely frustrating as they had gone two goals up at Portman Road.
