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Value for money in the transfer market is hard to find. Everyone is looking for it, but most clubs end up either missing out on their top targets or paying over the odds for players while their stock is high.

It’s been a while since Cardiff City have landed anyone that strikes you as genuinely shrewd. Fraizer Campbell looked and proved to be a smart signing, the kind of transfer that Dave Jones would have produced, despite working with a restricted budget.

It’s also a quality that is very much in the eye of the beholder. Take Cardiff’s reported interest in Ipswich’s Daryl Murphy, which appears to have divided opinion.

'New Peter Thorne'

On the one hand, he is 32, coming off comfortably the best season of his career and his stock has never been higher. Should he demand a £4m fee, would he be worth such a sizeable fee?

Well that depends. In some respects, he is exactly what Cardiff need; a strong, mobile, leader of the line. The new Peter Thorne, potentially.

Should he plunder the goals to fire Cardiff back in to the top flight, his price and age would not matter. On the other hand, if that did not happen, Russell Slade has spent a lot of money on a player with no resale value.

The whole pursuit raises questions over the scouting, in my opinion. Murphy was the top scorer in the Championship last season, so let’s go for him could be the school of thought.

Likewise Crystal Palace’s Dwight Gayle, another target. His club were hammered for paying so much money for him a couple of years ago and despite being a moderate success, they are looking to cash in on him and recoup a large proportion of the fee paid.

Not exactly a Moneyball target either.

But there is value to be found, close to home too. Leon Britton anyone?

MORE: Leon Britton concedes he may leave Swansea City after falling down Liberty Stadium pecking order

I know what you’re thinking; no chance, but bear with me.

Britton a standard-setter

Cardiff have a talented squad, but they are lacking in certain key areas. It is short of experience and leadership in midfield, plus someone who can win possession, maintain positional discipline and relieve pressure on the back four.

Britton is the dictionary definition of these qualities. He is a standard-setter, trains as hard as he plays and a positive influence on and off the pitch.

Despite his attributes and cult status at Swansea City, the fact is that Britton is well down the pecking order there and that is not likely to change any time soon.

He is still good enough to be playing in the Premier League, but that does not necessarily mean that a Premier League club will make a move for him.

Britton has been unheralded throughout his career, playing in a position that is neither attractive nor valued by football fans on these shores.

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His age is also sure to work against him. He’s 32, the same age as Murphy, some will see this as a big negative, valuing youth and vitality over experience and nous.

Sure, there is the whole Cardiff/Swansea thing, but there is such a gulf between the two sides these days that the rivalry is in danger of becoming rather one-sided.

Britton may not be willing to jeopardise his bond with the Swansea fans, but you never know until you make the call. Dave Jones would have been right over it.

There is a perfectly valid point to be made, which is that Cardiff are not exactly renowned for their passing football and patient building from the back.

This is true and there is a danger that someone like Britton would be wasted and bypassed. But he is the sort of player worth building the side around and also, who knows what the future holds, with regards to the team, manager or club as a whole.

Never know until you ask

He is one of those players that have seen their stock fall slightly, despite their undoubted talents. Other players in this role that find themselves in this sort of scenario include Stoke’s Steve Sidwell, who is struggling to cement a place in their team.

Liam Bridcutt is one of the best players I have witnessed at this level and joined Sunderland to link up with his former Brighton manager Gus Poyet, who has since been dismissed, leaving the diminutive midfielder out of favour.

I’m also a big fan of Stephen Quinn, recently relegated from the top flight with Hull and soon to be a free agent.

Each of them solid options, but none of them are quite as enticing as Britton. At the end of the day, you never know until you ask.

Not many people would have fancied Leicester’s chances of landing Argentinian legend Esteban Cambiasso last summer, an Inter Milan icon and Champions League winner.

Twelve months on, he helped inspire his side’s remarkable rise up the Premier League table and secure their top flight status. He also scooped their Player of the Year accolades in the process.

Cardiff spent the January transfer window frantically cost cutting, so the idea of them lining up big money signings again is rather disappointing in my view.

I would have thought that they would have learned from their mistakes, but here we go again.

Proven Premier League quality

As the club has discovered, striking the right balance between aiming too high and too low is easier said than done. But a limited budget does not mean you cannot also be ambitious in your transfers.

Scouring League One as Slade has done is well and good, but you have to complement those signings with some proven Premier League quality, if the goal is to return to the top flight.

Which is where Leon Britton comes in.

“I’m not complaining because there are other players who haven’t played as much as they would have wanted,” Britton conceded recently. “But if they take my place in the squad, I am going to be training the whole week and then running round the training ground on my own on a Saturday, and that’s not what I want at my age. I said to the manager that I can’t do another season not playing.”

Is a move to Cardiff unlikely? Yes.

Is it worth a try? Absolutely. After all, he wouldn’t even have to move house.