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<\/p>\nThe Bluebirds forward has hit a rich vein of form and Bluebirds supporters want him back next year – and beyond<\/p>\n
Omari Kellyman of Cardiff City(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)<\/p>\n
Omari Kellyman has admitted he has seen Cardiff City fans urging him to stay, but insists his long-term aim remains breaking through at Chelsea.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder, on loan from Chelsea, has been one of the standout performers for Cardiff<\/a> City as they chase promotion from League One, scoring three goals and adding an assist in his last six outings.<\/p>\n Kellyman has really helped to fill the void left by Yousef Salech’s neck injury last month, going up a level or two having been deployed centrally by Brian Barry-Murphy, keeping Callum Robinson out in the process. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community<\/a>.<\/p>\n While his two goals in a losing cause at Plymouth Argyle point to his technical prowess, Cardiff fans have rightly praised him in recent weeks for seeing an improvement in his physically and pressing from the front.<\/p>\n Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate<\/a> or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.<\/p>\n Speaking to The Athletic<\/a>, Kellyman made clear just how much the move to south Wales has meant to him after an injury-ravaged first season at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a great environment to be in,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my first real season in men\u2019s football where I am playing every week. I have learnt a lot about myself and the game. I am grateful to be here and show Chelsea what I can do. It has kind of been my first real opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Aston Villa youngster endured a nightmare 2024-25 campaign, with what was initially diagnosed as a 12-week hamstring injury turning into more than six months on the sidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like a downward spiral of events,\u201d he admitted. \u201cAny time I felt I was back on my feet, something else would happen. That 12 weeks turned into 25 to 26 weeks of not playing. That whole time, I was ready to fight for my spot in my head, but the body just couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Kellyman revealed he struggled with criticism on social media during that period, particularly after undergoing surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard not to pick up my phone when I was injured and see what people were saying about me. I got to a point where I didn\u2019t feel I was a player anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter having a whole season being in the shadows, it is good to feel wanted again.\u201d<\/p>\n JOIN OUR CARDIFF CITY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n And that feeling has been amplified by the reception he has received from Bluebirds supporters, both online and in person.<\/p>\n This season, he has endeared himself to City supporters to no end. To such an extent, in fact, that Cardiff fans hope they can have him back next season.<\/p>\n If Cardiff do achieve promotion, perhaps another loan might be beneficial to all parties once again. However, supporters asking him to commit to Cardiff long term might be left disappointed.<\/p>\n \u201cI have seen those,\u201d he said when asked about fans encouraging him to sign permanently. \u201cEven coming out of the stadium, I can hear them saying it. It is great.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I signed for Chelsea, and I want to play for Chelsea, that is the end goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Kellyman also credited Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy for giving him the freedom to express himself in his preferred No 10 role. For now, however, his focus is firmly on helping Cardiff secure promotion. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has given me licence to express myself, but also helped the other side of my game,\u201d he said. “Our style of play and pressing is really aggressive. I have improved a lot on that since being here.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting promoted to the Championship is a dream scenario, but we all have the desire to win the title too. After everything they have done for me, going up as champions is the goal. Cardiff fans deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n *Sign up to our daily Bluebirds newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a>. Cardiff City correspondent Glen Williams is also on social media. He can be found on his X account here<\/a>, on Instagram<\/a>, on TikTok<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bluebirds forward has hit a rich vein of form and Bluebirds supporters want him back next year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6476,57399,128,130,129],"class_list":["post-122049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-cardiff-city-fc","tag-chelsea-fc","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}