Vincent Tan has revealed his Bluebirds’ dream.
Cardiff City’s owner believes manager Neil Warnock can return the club to Premier Division status and says: “If we go up and stay three seasons perhaps then I will consider selling.”
Malaysian businessman Tan, who has invested £180m into the club, watched Warnock’s warriors power to a 3-0 win against Aston Villa and they followed that with two-goal success against Sheffield United.
Cardiff are top of the Championship after three fixtures thanks to three wins, three clean sheets and a goal difference of plus six.
This Saturday they are level on points with Wolves, the team they play at Molineux on Saturday (3pm), and Ipswich Town.
Tan, speaking to TalkSport from his home in Kuala Lumpur, said: “It feels great. These are early days but I’m extremely happy.
“Neil is doing a great job and understands the difficulties for Championship clubs. There is not enough income and a lot of expenses. We can’t afford to spend too much.
“I joke with him that somebody else spent all my money and he has to make do with that we have. He has done good business, spending £3m or so and signed good players.
“We have talked about selling somebody and bringing a player in, but we’ll see.
“There is great spirit among the boys in our squad and they are gelling as a team. You don’t have to spend £50m or £60m to achieve success. Leicester City proved that.
“Neil is a frank man and he understood when he came in that we had very little money for new players. We have spent some, but he has ensured valued for money.
“There has been no transfer nonsense.
“Every club in the Championship wants Premier League football. There are those spending big money, some ridiculous money, but that doesn’t mean you will go up.”
Tan again addressed the issue of whether he will sell Cardiff City, saying: “I have said many times that if the offer is reasonable and makes sense we will consider it. So far, though, we have not had any reasonable offer.
“I have put in almost £180m and still put money in every month.
“It’s tough, but if we get back into the Premier League and stay at least three seasons I could recoup my money.
“I can’t spend silly money, but if we spend wisely with good value that’s okay.”
Warnock has revealed Cardiff are close to bringing in a new signing and sources in the north of England say it is Wigan Athletic striker Omar Bogle.
The 24-year-old was signed by Wigan from Grimsby Town for £750,000 in January, but has scored only three goals in 14 appearances.
Manager Paul Cook has made Bogle available for transfer and Warnock admits his work ethic and pace.
While Warnock works on adding a player, left-back Joe Bennett is in talks with Fulham about a possible move.
Bennett, who missed the 2-0 win against Sheffield United with a calf injury, has a buy-out clause in his contract.
“It’s up to them (Fulham) to meet it and if they do they’re entitled to talk to him,” said Warnock. “It doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere, mind.”
Warnock sees Preston North End captain Greg Cunningham as a potential replacement for Bennett.
Former Manchester City youngster Cunningham, who has won four caps for the Republic of Ireland, has also played for Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.
He was Preston’s player of the year last season, is under contract un till 2019 and is team captain.
It would take a seven-figure sum to tempt Preston, but Cardiff would bring in a similar fee if Bennett goes to Fulham.
Cardiff are also fending off interest in striker Kenneth Zohore. Both Warnock and the player insist he is staying, but Brighton manager Chris Hughton has watched him in action a couple of times, while Hull have had a £10m offer rejected.
That is Hull’s second offer for Zohore, having had a £6m bid rejected earlier and they may be back with an even bigger offer.