Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock says he is still confident of signing Liverpool’s Marko Grujic on loan.
The 22-year-old midfielder spent the second half of last season at Cardiff and Warnock still hopes to bring him back to south Wales for next season.
The Bluebirds had hoped to complete the loan deal sooner however contract talks at Liverpool have slowed proceedings.
“I spoke to Marko yesterday, we are still optimistic, but we should know in the next few days,” said Warnock.
“If he’s not staying there I think he will come to us, it all depends on the negotiations.
“There is a contract involved, but it will be resolved, I’m sure they will make a decision shortly.”
If Cardiff are unable to sign the Serbia international, Warnock says he has another potential signing lined up.
“We have found a back up which we are trying to hold on to for a couple days,” said Warnock.
“I could do with them both to be honest but I’ll be having a chat with Mehmet [Dalman, club chairman] and Vincent [Tan, owner] in the next couple of days.
“I will be disappointed if I don’t get him (Grujic) but it won’t be the end of the world, they have made it clear to us that they want him to come, it’s just up to the player now.”
Cardiff suffered their first defeat of pre-season against Rotherham on Wednesday evening, however Warnock says he was not too disappointed with the loss.
The Bluebirds made several changes throughout the game and also handed a debut start to academy midfielder James Waite after the youngster impressed in Cornwall.
“It was just a good workout, disappointing result though,” said Warnock.
“We ended up a little bit lopsided but the important thing was we got minutes on board.
“We trained hard this morning so they are probably not happy with me at the moment but I said to them it is not about results.”
In the first half Cardiff played with three centre-backs, changing from their usual formation, and Warnock said it was a system he is looking to use in the Premier League.
“I wanted to try it because there will be times this season where we will have to use that,” said the veteran manager.
“One or two lads could have done a bit more in that system in the first half, but for a first time, it wasn’t too bad.
“I wanted two tough games and Rotherham and Burton are perfect for that, nice pitch, good surroundings and a good workout.”
Morton friendly cancelled
Unfortunately for Warnock’s plans, Cardiff’s penultimate pre-season friendly against Greenock Morton has been cancelled.
The Scottish Championship club have been hit with a series of injuries and would not be able to field a full-strength side against the Bluebirds.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that the fixture won’t be taking place as we were looking forward to the test,” said Warnock.
“Unfortunately, Greenock have been struggling with injuries and I didn’t want us to go there and face anything less than what we’d consider as being a strong first-team eleven.”
Cardiff face Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium in their next pre-season match, on 28 July, before welcoming La Liga side Real Betis to the Cardiff City Stadium on 4 August.