While Sunderland would have preferred to keep hold of Frazier Campbell until a replacement was secured, the chance to recoup a fee for the 25-year-old, plus remove his £30,000 a week wages from the balance sheet, proved sufficiently tempting for the Black Cats.
Campbell, who has joined Cardiff at their week-long training camp in Dubai, was out-of-contract in the summer and would not have been offered a new deal.
Ex-Sunderland boss Steve Bruce was keen to take him on loan at Hull City and while that was a proposition the Black Cats would have considered, Cardiff swept away the Tigers’ interest and hastened his departure from Wearside.
Campbell: “I’ve not played much football this season so to get a fresh start at such an ambitious club as Cardiff is great for me.
“I can’t wait to get back doing what I love.
“Adam (Johnson) was at Watford on loan in 2007 and he knows the manager (Malky Mackay) from his time there.
“I asked Adam about the move and he told me what a good man the manager was.
“Hearing those sorts of things makes moving to a new club even easier and having spoken to the manager I knew that this was the right move for me.
“I’d love to represent my country further and by performing week-in, week-out in that division is how you do that.
“It’s not on my agenda right now in all honesty though as we’ve got a lot of work left to do this season if we are to achieve our ambition of promotion in May.”