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Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan says he is ready to halve the club's debt of approximately £140m and insists the club will be debt-free by 2021.

Tan plans to convert £68m he is owed by the Championship club into equity while writing off another £10m.

He said he wrote off £13m in 2015, turned £3m into equity and settled a £5m debt with creditor Langston, owned by former Cardiff owner Sam Hammam.

The Malaysian entrepreneur says he will "resolve over time" the remaining £40m.

"Because we have recently reached agreement with one of the club's long-standing creditors, we are in a better position to convert our loans into equity," Tan said.

Cardiff's debt was £174m at the end of the 2013/14 financial year after their season in the Premier League - most of it owed to major shareholder Tan.

The Welsh club originally had a £24m debt to Hammam, who is currently their honorary president, and now Cardiff must settle their £5m arrears with him by 2 March after agreeing an out-of-court settlement.

Tan outlined his financial proposals at a question-and-answer session with supporters at the Cardiff City Stadium, where the owner also revealed Cardiff had rejected a £6m bid for Scottish goalkeeper David Marshall.

Cardiff are ninth in the Championship, five points outside the play-offs, and Tan insists manager Russell Slade has his backing despite supporter unrest over the Bluebirds' style of play.

"I think the fans should support Russell - he has done his best," said Tan.

"I want the fans to be more reasonable with him. They should support Russell Slade. He has done a great job in the current situation. He has inherited a squad of 50 players. Some of them had no discipline and he managed to clean it all up.

"I gave Russell a chance based on a recommendation. He was an honest man, based on what the club needed. I was looking for an honest, trustworthy manager.''

Tan also revealed he had been to Cardiff's training ground to give the players a "pep talk" and told supporters: "I am convinced that with this current group we can get promoted."