Craig Bellamy makes loan move to Cardiff City
Craig Bellamy has signed for Football League Championship outfit Cardiff City on a season-long loan deal after being frozen out at Manchester City.
Bellamy was unveiled as the Bluebirds’ latest recruit at a press conference and said that he was delighted to be playing for his hometown club and looked forward to the challenge of helping them gain promotion to the English Premier League.
The 31-year-old striker told reporters that "my wife and kids live here and I've spent the last six years travelling up and down the road. I left home at 15. I've always wanted to come back. It has been my dream to play my part in taking my hometown club to the Premier League, which would be fantastic for the football club, the city of Cardiff and Wales."
Bellamy added that he bore no ill will towards Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini after being told he was not part of the club’s plans for this season. He said that: "There's no ill feeling. I hope he does well, he's a top manager."
Though his family was a main factor in Bellamy’s decision to drop down to the Championship, he said that he did not expect to have an easy season in the second tier of English football.
"I wanted to come back at the top of my game. I've come down to the Championship willing to put my neck on the line. It's probably the hardest football decision I'll have to make in my career. I grew up in this league and it's tough, and that gives me excitement as well. It's a great challenge for me," said Bellamy.
Cardiff manager Dave Jones said that the deal had been talked about behind the scenes for several months.
"I wanted to make sure he was coming for all the right reasons, not just because his family's here but to help this club achieve what we all want," Jones added.
Several other clubs had been chasing Bellamy’s signature after it was revealed he would not be a part of Manchester City’s EPL squad for this season. EPL clubs Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and Everton were all keen to snap up the player while Neil Lennon, manager of Scottish Premier League giants Celtic, had approached City with a view to taking him on loan.
Bellamy has enjoyed many years in the EPL with several clubs including Coventry, Newcastle United, Liverpool, West Ham and Blackburn Rovers while he also enjoyed a loan spell at Celtic in 2005.
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