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Emiliano Sala: Who is Cardiff's £15m record signing?
Emiliano Sala was by some way Neil Warnock's most prized signing of the season. For months, Cardiff City had been searching for a free-scoring striker to resolve the club's desperate lack of goal threat. Now, the battle against relegation pales into insignificance.
The Argentinian signed a three-and-a-half-year deal over the weekend after lengthy negotiation with Ligue 1 Nantes over Cardiff's record-breaking fee of around £15million.
"I'm very happy to be here," he said after arriving in Wales on Friday. "It gives me great pleasure and I can't wait to start training, meet my new team-mates and get down to work. For me it feels special [to be Cardiff's record signing]. I have come here wanting to work and to help my team-mates and the club. I can't wait to get to work straight away and do everything I can."
Cardiff, who also brought in Oumar Niasse on loan from Everton this week, had identified Sala in the autumn, and started bidding for him at the start of January. Until last week, Warnock had feared the deal had fallen through, after Nantes rejected a previous offer. The 28-year-old arrived at the Premier League with a record of 12 Ligue 1 goals in 19 games, making him one of the French league's most sought-after assets.
Sala was born in Santa Fe, the Argentine province where Lionel Messi was born, and began his football career for Proyecto Crecer in Córdoba. However, he spent the vast majority of his playing career in France. Having struggled to break in at Bordeaux, he was shipped out on loan on three occasions. He spent time at Orleans, Niort and Caen.
The striker then moved to Nantes in the summer of 2015 for a fee of just 1million euros. Having settled into the club, however, Sala hit the form of his life. Warnock was desperate to bring him to the club because of his potential aerial threat, standing at 6ft 3in. He has also earned admirers for his hold up play. Sala enjoys getting the ball down and running in behind, and possesses reasonable pace to be able to do so.
Sala had 18 months left on his deal at Nantes before joining Cardiff and the Welsh club were made to work for his signature. Negotiations took nearly three weeks for the deal to be completed after Sala was offered a contract from a Chinese Super League club just two days before he put pen to paper on his deal with Cardiff.
Cardiff slipped into the Premier League's relegation zone on Saturday after a 3-0 loss at Newcastle United and Sala was due to make his debut against Arsenal on January 29.
Ken Choo, Cardiff's chief executive, said the bid to land his signature had not been easy, but added when he arrived: "We see Emiliano as a significant acquisition and welcome him wholeheartedly to the capital city of Wales."
Having signed for the club and had a tour around Cardiff, he was understood to have returned to Nantes to say his goodbyes to teammates on Monday.
“To me, Sala is a Bluebird. He signed for Cardiff and not many players want to sign for us,” said Cardiff supporter David Tugwell. “If you join our club you’re part of Cardiff City and that’s why I felt I had to come down and pay tribute.”
Keith Morgan, chairman of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, said: “Sala never played for Cardiff City. Tragically, it seems the chance he would have had to do that has been taken from him.
“I’ve been a football fan all my life and I often tell my wife I love it more than her, but at times like this, football doesn’t matter at all. We are thinking of Sala and his family.”