Cardiff City's Harry Arter.

Warnock Happy With His Six New Recruits For Premier

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Eddie Howe and Neil Warnock met up this week, a few days before they go head-to-head in a Premier League clash at Dean Court on Saturday.

They sat down to chat about Harry Arter’s loan move from the Dorset club to South Wales and reached agreement on a deal completed on transfer deadline day.

Bluebirds boss Warnock speaks highly of his Bournemouth counterpart, saying: “He’s a level-headed young man.

“It’s important for him to be happy. He’s enjoying it and they’ve improved every year.”

Bournemouth signed Colombian midfielder Jefferson Lerma from Levante in a club record £25m deal this week, a fee which almost matches Cardiff’s entire outlay over the summer.

Lerma, 23, played in all of Colombia’s games at the World Cup finals in Russia, including the last 16 defeat against England, and is Bournemouth’s third close-season signing after Sheffield United midfielder David Brooks and Leganes full-back Diego Rico.

“Eddie and I had a laugh about the lad Lerma because he was our number one target,” said Warnock. “It just shows how far Bournemouth has moved. They’ve got a good owner who’s splashed it.

“I don’t envy that. Sometimes money brings that. If we can galvanise everybody in the Cardiff group I think we can entertain.

“The top six is pretty much beyond everybody. You don’t think about points off them, that’s a bonus.

“But everyone else after that I think is a winnable game. You’ll have losing runs but I think it’s wide open so I don’t see why we shouldn’t get points everywhere.”

Warnock signed Arter and Victor Camparasa on deadline day, loan deals which took Warnock’s number of new players to six, following goalkeeper Alex Smithies, Greg Cunningham, Josh Murphy and Bobby Reid.

“We were surprised when Victor’s name cropped up,” said Warnock. “Brighton offered around £10m in January and quite a few Spanish clubs wanted him.

“He played at Bournemouth last week and was mentioned to me before that.

“We had someone at the game at Bournemouth, talked to him at great length and then looked beyond that.

“Once we knew he was considering coming to us it became a whole new ball game because he’s a good player.

“He has something to prove and wants to show Real Betis what he can do. He’s at a lovely age. He can play and he’s comfortable on the ball as well which you’ve got to do in the Premier League.

“I’m not saying it’s wrong, but sometimes the passing Real Betis do, and Arsenal have done it for years, it doesn’t suit certain styles.

“He wants to be making runs into the box and having shots and tackling so that suits the way we play.

“If you want to put your jumpers down in the park, Harry Arter would still play in the same way. Eddie didn’t want him to leave.

“We’re so delighted to have him because the way we play football and the way Arter was brought up. It’s a deal that just fits.

“He’s hard working and has experience in the Premier League. With Joe Ralls and Gunnarsson too, we feel happier than we did 48 hours ago.

“We’re disappointed with missing out on Marko Grujic and Alfred N’Diaye, but we persevered and in the end I think we did far better.”

Warnock insists Cardiff have been right to be financially prudent on their return to the Premier League.

Fellow promoted clubs have splashed the cash, with Wolves breaking their transfer record through the reported £18million signing of Adama Traore from Middlesbrough and Fulham becoming the first newly-promoted Premier League club to spend over £100m.

Veteran boss Warnock has signed six players this summer, but said ahead of Saturday’s first game at Bournemouth: “We’ve spent about £25m net.

Cardiff City’s Sol Bamba. Pic: Getty Images.

“We’re not throwing money away or doing things we can’t sustain. We’ve got players on loan so if things don’t go right it’s not going to bankrupt the club after 12 months.

“But at the same time the players have got something to prove.

“We’ve spent wisely we think and we’re looking to build for the future.”

Cardiff have the lowest player budget in the Premier League and are tipped to finish bottom.

“There are a lot of players here who will never have dreamt of playing in the Premier so that’s why I stayed loyal to them,” says Warnock.

“The steps some lads have made in the last 19 months are incredible. Mendez-Laing from Rochdale, Etheridge from Walsall and Bamba from Timbuktu!

“As long as they give everything you won’t see me complaining. We know we’ll get beaten at times.

“We brought players with pace because we will be defending for long periods. We’ll try and entertain when we can. We’re really pleased to be part of it.”

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