Bulut agrees new deal to stay at Cardiff City

Erol Bulut is set to remain as Cardiff City manager after agreeing a new deal with the Championship club.

An agreement on Bulut staying has been reached in principle.

Legal contracts are still to be signed, but the club are set to make an announcement within the next few days.

Bulut’s previous contract had been set to expire this summer after he took charge at Cardiff on a one-year agreement in June 2023.

He has been discussing a new deal with the Welsh club since owner Vincent Tan sanctioned the negotiations in late April.

Despite speculation linking him with a number of other jobs, the 49-year-old has now committed to Cardiff.

Bulut’s new deal is reward for the progress Cardiff made during 2023-24.

After relegation battles in each of the previous two campaigns, the Bluebirds finished 12th in Bulut’s first year in charge.

The former Fenerbahce boss is a popular figure among Cardiff’s fans, even if his style of play was criticised at times during his first year at the helm.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman had been keen for Bulut to remain in charge, with Tan – who has the final say – giving his backing to the idea shortly before the regular Championship season came to an end.

Bulut’s successes were achieved despite the fact that Cardiff were only able to sign players on loan or free transfers in last summer's transfer window because of an EFL embargo.

In January 2024, Bulut had limited funds at his disposal because of profit and stability rules.

Bulut said on numerous occasions during his debut season in English football that he would be interested in signing a new deal with Cardiff.

It is believed he was looking for assurances over the club’s future plans both on and off the field during the contract negotiations.

The the length of the deal on offer has also been suggested as a reason for the delay in reaching an agreement.

Dalman spearheaded the recruitment of Bulut last year and wanted to ensure Cardiff enjoyed some continuity and stability by giving him a new deal.

Bulut said in April that the target when he was appointed was to ensure Cardiff were not relegated, and that he had been told Tan was "happy" with the club's progress.

The former Turkey Under-21s international had not coached outside his homeland before joining Cardiff.

He started his coaching career at Yeni Malatyaspor before taking over at fellow Super Lig club Alanyaspor and then switching to Fenerbahce in 2020. He left that job in March 2021 with his team third in the Turkish top flight.

Bulut then had a stint at Gaziantep, where he was in charge for 18 months, but left after a disappointing run of results in January 2023.

German-born Bulut had a nomadic playing career which featured spells with the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahce - where he won a league title in 1995-96 -Trabzonspor, 1860 Munich, Olympiakos and Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk.