The loan signing of Declan John was one of the few pieces of business that Pedro Caixinha and the club got right in the summer.
Considering the Portuguese manager`s penchant for signing fellow countryman, the signing of the Welshman was likely at the behest of Mark Allen who, as we`ve seen with Sean Goss, has an eye for hidden gems in the English Championship.
The left-back is an unlikely success story considering he looked like a player who was failing to reach his potential. He`s had an up and down career to say the least. Starring for Malky Mackay`s Cardiff in the Premier League back in 2014, before slumming it in League One with Barnsley and Chesterfield a couple of years later.
His career was nosediving before he made the move to Glasgow, but it`s great to see a player who has such ability turn his fortunes around. Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need to get your focus back. Under Neil Warnock at Cardiff, he made 16 appearances last season, but he was mostly a bit part player. He needed a club that showed more faith in him, and he has certainly found that with us.
We were quick to snap him up on a permanent deal, and it was fully merited. He`s been excellent for the most part, effective in forward areas and improving all the time defensively. The full back definitely has room for improvement but at 22 years of age, he has time on his side.
On Thursday against China, he made his second appearance for Wales, four years after his first, and it was well deserved. He has effectively gone full circle after breaking onto the scene with his first professional club. He will need to have more than one season of consistent form to really show he is the long term answer to replace Lee Wallace, but full credit to the lad in turning things around and making the grade. Is John now first choice ahead of our captain? Let me know in the poll