Cardiff City Push for New Signings as Barry-Murphy Awaits First Championship Win

Cardiff City manager Brian Barry-Murphy expects the club to complete a new signing soon as the Bluebirds search for their first win back in the Championship.

"Fingers crossed something will happen soon," Barry-Murphy told BBC Sport Wales, adding that the club approaches transfers as a collective effort rather than a one-man operation. The comments came after Cardiff drew their away match at Derby County — a result Barry-Murphy said he was satisfied with, given the step up in level. Cardiff finished as League One runners-up last season and are still finding their feet in the second tier.

The transfer business so far has been modest. Cardiff's only two permanent signings of the summer are goalkeeper Nathan Trott and attacker Jack Moylan, who arrived on a four-year deal running until the summer of 2030 at the age of 24. Full-back Calum Scanlon returned on loan from Liverpool to bolster the defensive options. Beyond that, the squad has been quiet — and Barry-Murphy has been candid about the work going on behind the scenes, saying the club is working "really hard" on incomings.

He also moved to play down one specific rumour. Reports linking Cardiff with Dutch midfielder Melle Meulensteen were dismissed by the manager, who said no signings were imminent at that point — a position he has since softened with his more optimistic "fingers crossed" line.

One player who will not feature just yet is Calum Chambers. The defender has not trained with the club and is still dealing with knee issues, Barry-Murphy confirmed, ruling him out of contention against Derby. His timeline remains unclear.

Barry-Murphy's own situation has been settled for some time. He signed a contract extension in early August that keeps him at Cardiff until 2029, an improvement on his previous deal which ran to 2028. He has pointed to the continued backing from the club's hierarchy as evidence of a shared project, even as results and recruitment take time to click.

For fans, the immediate focus splits two ways. Cardiff host Norwich City in the Carabao Cup Second Round on Tuesday, 25 August, kicking off at 19:00 BST at Cardiff City Stadium — the Carabao Cup being English football's secondary knockout competition, a chance for lower-tier sides to test themselves against bigger names. Then it is back to the league, where that elusive first Championship win still needs to arrive.

A new signing would lift the mood. Until then, Barry-Murphy is asking for patience — from the supporters, and perhaps from himself.