Cardiff City are on the verge of pulling off a transfer coup after agreeing an £8.6m fee with Toulouse for French midfielder Etienne Capoue.

The midfielder has been linked with a move to Arsenal, Liverpool or Tottenham this summer, but reports in France suggest that Cardiff are now at the head of the queue to bring the player to the Premier League.

Toulouse chairman Olivier Sadran told L'Equipe that the club have accepted Cardiff's £8.6m offer and any other clubs interested in signing Capoue will have to act swiftly to match that figure.

Sadran said: "Now the clubs interested in Etienne have to know we will not accept any offer inferior to the one from Cardiff."

Malky Mackay recently urged Cardiff fans to be patient with the club's apparent lack of activity in the transfer market, with Andreas Cornelius the only new face at the Bluebirds ahead of their first season in the Premier League.

And it now looks like that patience may be rewarded with the arrival of the highly sought-after 25-year-old.

QPR were heavily linked with a move for Capoue in January with Harry Redknapp expressing his admiration for the French international, but Rangers' relegation put paid to any hopes of going back in for the player this summer.

Earlier in the off-season Capoue stated his desire to leave Toulouse, but only if it meant being involved in the "big competitions".

And Cardiff will now have an anxious wait to see if any of Capoue's other suitors are spurred into action by this latest development before they get a chance to try and negotiate personal terms to bring the player to Wales.

Source: Dail Express