Reports have surfaced today that Joe Ledley is close to agreeing a move to the Potteries with some even suggesting a Medical is set to take place in the next 48hrs.

Potteries bound? ©GettyImages

If Ledley were to sign it would bring to an end one of the longest chases of a player in our recent history, with Tony Pulis famously slapping in an eye watering £6m bid on Cardiff’s table in the first transfer window after Promotion – luckily for us, the ever inept Ridsdale turned it down and unless compensation has already been agreed between the clubs, the fee will now be decided by a tribunal.

I’m not sure what to make of Ledley, I can’t believe the number of games he has racked up, he seems to have been around for ages but never really lived up to the promise he first showed when he burst onto the Cardiff scene. From what I have seen and since heard, he is a disciplined, hard working, tireless workhorse sort who can play either at Left Back, Left Midfield, or more recently in the middle of the park. I kept a close eye on him during the Play Offs and have to say he was more than outshone by his midfield colleague Peter Whittingham, but it seems the chance to finally get his man was too much for Pulis to resist.

If no compensation has been agreed, I see the tribunal settling for somewhere in the region of £3m, unfortunately the ludicrously high bid that was rejected from us coupled with the fact Ledley is Captain of his country and also that Cardiff seem to get a hell of a lot of money for mediocre players in the past means it might not be as big a bargain as we had first hoped for.

So where will he fit in? I think it’s unlikely he will be tried at LB, whilst he can play there Pulis is unlikely to risk someone not natural in that position in the Premier League, it would be madness. I don’t think he will play Left Midfield as Matty has that one sewn up, and even if he moved Matty over to the right, I’m not sure we would have the balance we so desperately crave across the middle. My guess is that Ledley will play in the middle alongside Whitehead, in the Whelan position if you will, one worry for many will be that this is where Rory plays best which could see him pushed out to the right, where we really don’t want to see him play – hopefully Pulis is working hard to bring in a natural for that position as a wide Delap/Whitehead proved ineffective time after time last season.

I think it’s safe to say if he DOES sign that given the protracted chase, he won’t be sitting on the bench too much and if what I have seen and read about his attitude and work rate is true, I can see him slipping straight into a beaming Tony Pulis’ XI.