Cardiff City are willing to dish out £2m to secure the services of Sunderland striker Josh Maja, it has been reported.
Maja is out of contract in the summer and he has rejected the offer for a new deal from the League One outfit. However, the Black Cats are desperate to keep him.
Sunderland are looking for at least £4m in order to let Maja leave. Apart from the Cardiff, Scottish giants Celtic and German outfits Wolfsburg, Cologne and Stuttgart are also reportedly keeping close tabs on Maja, according to the Sun.
Here is a SWOT analysis of the Cardiff City transfer target.
Strengths
Maja is a fleet-footed centre-forward who has good pace to burn and is a very athletic forward.
His pace allows him to drive at opposition defences and he’s a pretty hard player to stop on the counter-attacks.
The 20-year-old isn’t afraid to shoot from the tight angles and unlike most of the attackers of his age, he has shown good versatility to play on the wide areas as well.
Maja’s work-ethic is exemplary as well, and considering Warnock asks his forwards to work hard off the ball, he’d be a good fit if he signs for Cardiff.
Weaknesses
Maja is young and isn’t immune to the momentary lapses of concentration. With a frame of 5’9”, he gets dominated in the air and isn’t a very useful asset for his side during the set-pieces.
The Sunderland academy prospect has to improve his finishing as he won’t get too many goal-scoring chances in the Premier League.
Opportunities
In 25 League One appearances, Maja has plundered 15 goals and is just one goal behind John Marquis of Doncaster who leads the goal scoring charts at the moment. In short, Maja is in a red-hot form.
Cardiff have struggled to find goals, with the likes of Oumar Niasse, Kenneth Zohore and Danny Ward flattering to deceive. So, signing an in-form Maja could be a breath of fresh air for the Premier League outfit.
Threats
The major reason for Maja’s development this season has been the amount of chances and adequate backing that he has received from his employers. A switch to the Cardiff City, however, would be different scenery entirely.
Maja is still in his learning years and is far from being a finished product. Detractors might highlight that a jump to the top flight from the third division could eventually turn out to be a leap too big for the blossoming 20-year old.
Statistics Credits: Whoscored