Cardiff City keen to re-sign out-of-favour Premier League defender after previous big impact
Cardiff City are keen to take defender Ryan Giles on loan from Luton Town.
Luton Town defender Ryan Giles has emerged as a loan target for former club Cardiff City during the January transfer window, TEAMtalk understands.
Left-back Giles became Luton‘s club-record signing when he joined the Premier League newcomers from Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer for a reported fee of around £5million.
However, the 23-year-old has been in and out of the side under manager Rob Edwards so far this season due to the impressive form of Alfie Doughty down the left flank.
Giles, capable of playing on the left side of both defence and midfield, has made only five starts in 11 Premier League appearances so far this term with two other starts coming in the Carabao Cup.
Cardiff, currently 13th in the Championship table under Erol Bulut, have been keeping tabs on Giles’ situation and are keen to bring the 23-year-old back to the Welsh capital.
READ MORE: Arsenal loan deal at serious risk of early termination as Arteta faces maddening January dilemma
Cardiff keen on Ryan Giles return
Giles, who made just a single first-team appearance for Wolves after coming through the club’s youth system, enjoyed a highly productive six-month loan spell at Cardiff during the 2021/22 campaign, providing nine assists in just 21 appearances for the Bluebirds.
That was just one of several EFL loan spells for Giles, who moved away from Molineux on a permanent basis when reuniting with Edwards – the manager who handed Giles his senior debut at AFC Telford in March 2018 and later oversaw his development as Wolves Under-23 coach – at Kenilworth Road last summer.
A number of other Championship clubs are understood to be monitoring Giles, who registered 12 assists in 48 games for Middlesbrough last season as Michael Carrick’s side reached the Championship play-offs.
However, Luton are reluctant to let him leave as Edwards does not want to weaken his squad as they battle to secure survival in the Premier League.
Luton currently sit 18th in the league table, a point behind Everton but with a game in hand over the Merseyside club.
Edwards’ side travel to League One club Bolton Wanderers for an FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday night, with the winners of the tie set to play away to either Crystal Palace or Everton in the fourth round.
Luton are due to host Brighton in their next Premier League fixture on January 30.