New Saints hotshot striker linked with move to Cardiff City
Declan McManus of TNS in action. Penybont v The New Saints in the JD Cymru Premier at Bryntirion Park on the 11th September 2021. Credit: Lewis Mitchell
The New Saints striker Declan McManus has been linked with a sensational summer move to English Championship side Cardiff City.
The 27-year-old has been at the club for less than a year after joining from Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic last summer for a fee of around £60,000, a club and league record.
He has excelled in the Cymru Premier, where he is the runaway leader of the Golden Boot race, with 21 goals.
McManus has found the back of the net 27 times in 34 games across all competitions this year, helping his side to the league title and a Welsh Cup final.
A report from Football League World claims that the Bluebirds are interested in making a move for the Scottish forward.
Cardiff are rumoured to be one of many clubs interested in McManus after his form in the Welsh domestic game didn’t go amiss.
He already has experience of scoring at the Cardiff City Stadium, having netted a hat-trick for the Saints in their Conference League qualifier against Viktoria Plzen.
TNS can command a fee for the forward given he is contracted to them until the summer of 2023.
The exiled Welsh club have looked to the Welsh system before for players, including Rhys Healey who came from the Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2013. Healey went on to play in the Premier League for them and is now playing for Toulouse in Ligue Two.
Just before the millennium, they also signed Mark Delaney from Carmarthen Town, and he went on to play for Aston Villa, just a year after playing in the League of Wales.
