Cardiff City star goes toe to toe with £250m England midfield and leaves everyone saying the same thing

The Bluebirds midfielder earned plaudits for his performance against England at Wembley

Declan Rice to Arsenal: £105m. Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid: £89m. Cole Palmer to Chelsea: £42.5m. Manolis Siopis to Cardiff City: Free.

In what will arguably go down as one of the Bluebirds midfielder's greatest-ever nights playing for his country, Siopis turned out a battling, disruptive, frustrating display — if you are an England fan, that is — against some of the world's best on Thursday night.

The result? A dramatic 2-1 win for Greece over England at Wembley, topped with an injury-time winner, of course.

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Now it's fair to say that Siopis has flattered to deceive in a largely struggling Cardiff side. Under Erol Bulut, supporters were left baffled as to why the midfielder, who was imparting no influence on games, was never dropped, while he is yet to start a game under interim boss Omer Riza, although some of that has been due to injury.

The truth is, Cardiff fans were sold a 'game-changing midfielder' when they persuaded him to buy out his Trabzonspor contract and move to the Welsh capital in the summer of 2023, during which City were under a transfer embargo which banned them paying fees for players.

After starting relatively brightly, however, he, much like a lot of players in the team, saw his form drop off a cliff. It's difficult for a player to up sticks and move to a different country and play in as uncompromising a league as the Championship, but his compatriot, Dimitrios Goutas, took to it far better than he did, many would argue.

Siopis still has his admirers, but Cardiff have played better without him in the team. What Thursday night's performance at Wembley showed, however, is that with the right people around him and with the right tactical guidance, he can flourish. This is what all the fuss was about.

The 30-year-old divides opinion at Cardiff. Many believe he is not physical enough, loses the ball too often and his passing range does not allow Cardiff to transition into attack quickly enough. His backers believe that he has the energy, grit and tenacity to allow Cardiff to select only one No.6, thus freeing up more room for attackers ahead of him.

The truth is we have not seen enough of the commanding, dominant displays for him to warrant a spot in the starting XI unconditionally. But Thursday night's performance has encouraged Cardiff supporters no end and they hope it will act as a springboard for him to return to his club with renewed confidence and vigour.

Indeed, his performance received plaudits from Cardiff fans and the media alike. Newspapers the Daily Mail and The Telegraph marked Siopis a 7/10 for his 66-minute display – higher than any England player received in either publication.

GiveMeSport also offered a 7/10, writing: "The Cardiff midfielder arguably had the toughest task of the game with England's midfield-dominated setup dropping in and out of the lines, but he managed himself extremely well. He offered tenacity to disrupt the Three Lions' attacking build-up and disciplined himself enough to frustrate (Lee) Carsley's side."

Take Newcastle cult hero Nikos Dabizas's verdict on Siopis before the game, too. Speaking to The Sun, he backed Siopis to mark Bellingham out of the game.

"In terms of direct marking, Manolis Siopis is a footballer who has the necessary combo of speed and power as well as stamina so that for a long period of time in the game to be pressing in his marking [against Bellingham]," he said.

"I believe the three central midfielders will be able to give us that necessary cohesion and with the characteristics that they will have be able to create that concrete midfield both inside and outside our area where most of the game will be played.

"But I believe Manolis Siopis can serve very well that part of direct marking in midfield."

Clearly in a system with a clear plan and purpose, Siopis can thrive and Dabizas's prediction came true. He has seen him play for Greece for years and knows they can extract the best out of him. He harried, caused a menace in midfield, broke up play, linked well with team-mates and remained calm on the ball.

Cardiff fans were impressed by the midfielders display, but now want the same at club level. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

Matt said on X: "It annoys me so much watching Siopis for Greece because it’s exactly the dm (defensive midfielder) we need to sit off (Alex) Robertson and (Rubin) Colwill."

"Siopis absolutely brilliant for Greece tonight," Sam wrote. Jamie Heath said: "Great to see Siopis boss the England midfield, hopefully he brings this form back to club level," while Joe added: Siopis I need you like that every week."

Michael Constantine weighed in with: "Siopis is starting in a team that's beating England, but hasn't played well enough this season to start for Cardiff. What do we do to players?"

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And the supporters are right. It's no use re-writing history and saying he has been fantastic for Cardiff when that has not been the case. But the fact supporters love him in Turkey, where he has played the vast majority of his football, and he keeps getting picked for Greece means there is something Cardiff are not unlocking in him.

It's a long season and he still has a major part to play. Omer Riza, or a new manager, will be desperate to have the Siopis who turned out against England at Wembley doing the business at Cardiff City Stadium week in, week out.