Manchester City have been quite busy recently in terms of offloading players. Earlier this week, Callum Doyle joined Norwich City on loan, and Mahamadou Susoho has gone to Peterborough United. It is expected that Micah Hamilton will soon complete a £3.5 million move to Middlesbrough. Earlier in the summer, other young players made moves away, including Tommy Doyle, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Lewis Fiorini. And today, City have cashed in on Alex Robertson, who has joined Championship outfit Cardiff City – and the details of the transfer have now been shared.
Midfielder Robertson spent last season on loan at Portsmouth, and had a really good start with the League One club (who are now in the Championship). But his season was ended in early January, when he suffered a torn hamstring in training. Supposedly, it happened as he was attempting a backheel to a teammate. That was a big blow for the player, but he will now get the chance to embark on a new adventure with Cardiff.
It has been reported by Wales Online reporter Glen Williams that Cardiff have paid £1 million for the transfer of Robertson. This initial fee could potentially treble if all add-on criteria is met, as per Williams in his report. One interesting part of the deal is that City have managed to negotiate a 25% sell-on clause. It had been reported earlier in the week that a ‘significant’ sell-on clause was set to be inserted.
Robertson will now be hoping to kick on after he was robbed of half a season in 2023/24 and the Championship will be a great environment for him. The Australian starlet will be hoping to perhaps help Cardiff come into promotion contention, with the Bluebirds having now been away from the Premier League for five years.
His manager certainly believes in him, revealing that interest in Robertson was plentiful, as he spoke to the club’s official website about his new addition. Erol Bulut, who got the gig at Cardiff last summer, said: “We’re delighted Alex is here. There were six other clubs that were in for him, which shows what a talent he is. We had a meeting 10 days ago and explained our goals for the club and for Alex. Our hopes and plans were aligned.
“Alex can deliver a lot. He’s got quality. He’s technically very good with a great work rate and can add to what we already have. We now have a great mix of youth and experience in the midfield.”
Cardiff City are optimistic they can sign Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson. Robertson, 21, has been among the club's targets throughout this summer as the Bluebirds look to add to their engine room. Manager Erol Bulut described the Australian international as “interesting” after the 2-1 win over Reading in Wednesday night’s pre-season friendly.
Cardiff have faced competition for his services from newly promoted Championship side Portsmouth, where Robertson had a successful loan spell last season. Pompey were keen to re-sign the player who scored once in 23 League appearances before injury curtailed his campaign last January. But there is growing speculation Robertson has opted for the Bluebirds ahead of the South Coast club. Cardiff will now negotiate a fee for his release from the Premier League champions as the Scottish-born midfielder is entering the final year of his contract.
Asked about Robertson, Bulut said: “Let’s see how the situation will end.
“I don’t know about other offers but he is an interesting player. He has quality, is a good player, so it is normal he has offers. We shall see.”
Having strengthened the club’s attacking resources with the acquisition of Chris Willock, Wilfried Kanga and Anwar El Ghazi, Cardiff are now looking to add to their midfield, especially as they are happy to listen to offers for Ryan Wintle – a regular in the starting line-up last season.
Cardiff have continued adding to their squad just days before they host Sunderland in the opening game of the Championship season. The Bluebirds have already added four new faces to their ranks during the summer transfer window after taking Hertha Berlin striker Wilfried Kanga on loan and securing the free transfer additions of Aston Villa defender Callum Chambers, Mainz winger Anwar El Ghazi and Queens Park Rangers star Chris Willock. A fifth new arrival was finalised on Wednesday afternoon when Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson put pen to paper on a four-year contract after Cardiff agreed an undisclosed fee with the reigning Premier League champions. The two-times capped Australia international has spent time on loan at Scottish club Ross County and Championship newcomers Portsmouth in recent years, scoring one goal and providing four assists in 27 appearances in all competitions for the latter in their successful push for the League One title last season. With a permanent switch away from City now secured, Robertson has been backed to ‘show what a talent he is’ by Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut.
He told the club website: “We're delighted Alex is here. There were six other Clubs that were in for him, which shows what a talent he is. We had a meeting 10 days ago and explained our goals for the Club and for Alex. Our hopes and plans were aligned. Alex can deliver a lot. He's got quality. He’s technically very good with a great work rate and can add to what we already have. We now have a great mix of youth and experience in the midfield.”
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho said his club threw everything at the Alex Robertson deal, but ultimately Cardiff City won the race for his signature. WalesOnline first reported City's interest in the Australia international three weeks ago and it's not been a straightforward road to announcing his signature yesterday. Indeed, Erol Bulut said six Championship clubs were after the 21-year-old, who shone during his loan spell at Fratton Park last term en route to Pompey's promotion from League One. Portsmouth were chief among those who wanted to sign the central midfield player and pushed hard to get a deal over the line.
Ultimately, though, Robertson, whose uncle Gavin Rae is a fan favourite in this corner of the world, chose the Bluebirds. Cardiff constructed a deal which included offering the player a four-year contract, while they paid an initial fee believed to be worth just shy of £1m, with Man City having a 25% sell-on clause on any future sale. After learning that Robertson had signed for Cardiff, Mousinho told The News: “There’s loads of reasons (why a player joins a club), there’s always a variety of reasons.
“The only thing I’d say about Alex, in terms of where we are as a football club and what we could do, is we did everything we could. We pushed it as far as we could push it, so I’m sitting here now completely satisfied with everything we’ve done on the club side to do it - and we had the full backing of the owners to do that. It’s territory I’ve never experienced in my time as a head coach, certainly some of the figures and numbers we’re talking about. That’s something which is an obvious and natural thing to happen when you go into the Championship, but I’m really happy with everything we’ve done there and I have no complaints about that. Players will choose other clubs and that’s just part of life - it’s something you have to live with.”
Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson is subject to transfer interest from three Sky Bet Championship clubs ahead of the upcoming 2024/25 campaign. The 21-year-old has been linked with a loan move to the Sky Bet Championship ahead of the new season, after spending the 2023/24 campaign at Fratton Park, where Portsmouth secured promotion to the English second tier. Robertson made 23 league appearances before suffering a hamstring injury during a first-team training session, with the season-long loan at Portsmouth being the Australian international’s second spell away from the Etihad Stadium. The midfielder spent time in the Scottish Premiership with Ross County during the 2022/23 campaign, and was directly involved in five goals during Portsmouth’s League One campaign last season.
Robertson moved to Manchester City in 2017 from semi-professional club Hakoah Sydney, and has been an unused substitute for Pep Guardiola’s side across the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Carabao Cup. The 21-year-old wasn’t included in Manchester City’s pre-season tour squad of the United States, but has been linked with a move to a trio of Championships clubs, as well Premier League side Everton. Portsmouth have previously outlined their ambition to re-sign the midfielder from Manchester City but are widely claimed to be facing competition from Cardiff City, with the Welsh outfit ‘holding a strong interest’ in Robertson, according to Football League World. The outlet further relay claims from BBC Sport journalist Rob Phillips, who reports that Hull City have also joined the race to sign Robertson on a season-long loan. Hull missed out on re-signing striker Liam Delap from Manchester City ahead of the new season, after the Englishman completed a permanent transfer to Ipswich Town, with Portman Road hosting Premier League football this coming campaign.
