Cardiff City eye Nottingham Forest defender Panzo

Jonathan Panzo left Chelsea for Monaco in 2018

Cardiff City have targeted ex-England Under-21s defender Jonathan Panzo before Friday night's 23:00 BST transfer window deadline.

Cardiff can only do a loan deal for Panzo because of a Football League transfer embargo.

But Swansea can pay a fee for any recruits.

The Bluebirds are working hard to secure the Chelsea product, who had a loan spell with Championship play off finalists Coventry City in 2022-23, featuring in 29 league games.

The left-sided centre back left Chelsea for Monaco in a £1.5m deal in 2018, but played just twice for the French club before going to Dijon following a loan spell with Cercle Bruges.

He joined Forest for an undisclosed fee in January 2022 and played once for Steve Cooper's side.

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut expects to sign a centre-back before the window shuts and the departure of Jack Simpson, who has left by mutual consent, makes the need more urgent.

His exit also frees up money for a new face as Cardiff look to balance their books.

Swansea are also in the market for a left-sided defender and manager Michael Duff has confirmed they are interested in Kristian Pedersen, from FC Koln.