MX23RW : Thursday, December 19 15:20:01| >> :60:968:968:

Cardiff confident of making Nantes striker Sala their new record signing

Cardiff confident of making Nantes striker Sala their new record signing
© Reuters
The transfer would break the club-record fee of £11million paid for the services of Gary Medel in 2013.

Cardiff are confident of making Emiliano Sala their record signing after the Nantes striker arrived in the Welsh capital for talks.

The Bluebirds hope to complete a deal worth around £20million for the 28-year-old Argentinian.

The former Bordeaux and Caen forward has been Cardiff's number one January target, with manager Neil Warnock having made two visits to France over the last few weeks to watch Sala play in Ligue 1.

Soccer – Barclays Premier League – Cardiff City v Sunderland – Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman hinted on Saturday that the record-breaking deal for Sala was back on (Nick Potts/PA)

Warnock had suggested the chase for Sala was over last Friday, saying: "Nothing's completely off the agenda. But quite a few things will have to change for it to be back on.

But chairman Mehmet Dalman said before Saturday's 0-0 draw with Huddersfield that the Sala deal was "not dead".

"There is still dialogue going on and we will see what happens over the next few days," Dalman told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"Watch this space over the next 10 days."

If the deal is completed, the fee would beat the £11m Cardiff paid for Chile midfielder Gary Medel in 2013 and set a new club record.

Sala has scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season, putting him in third place in the French scoring charts behind Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe (14) and Lille's Nicolas Pepe (13).

If Sala does sign, he would be expected to go straight into the Cardiff side for the crunch relegation battle at Newcastle on Saturday.

Soccer – Barclays Premier League – Hull City v Cardiff City – KC Stadium
Chile midfielder Gary Medel was signed by Cardiff for £11milllion and remains the club's record purchase (Richard Sellers/PA)

As well as a striker, Warnock has made no secret that he also wants to sign a right-back and a midfielder during the January transfer window.

Cardiff have so far missed out on Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne, who last week joined Bournemouth on loan for the rest of the season.

Nice midfielder Adrien Tameze was also the subject of a failed Cardiff offer, and Dalman said last weekend it was unlikely that a deal for the 24-year-old could be resurrected.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Phil Blanche, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'af44ea7b-7fbf-42df-8338-5689bf26937a');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Cardiff confident of making Nantes striker Sala their new record signing'});

ID:346828: cacheID:346828:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7077:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Emiliano Sala in action for Nantes in November 2017
Read Next:
Sala's proposed Cardiff move in doubt
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd21145230111945
2Leeds UnitedLeeds21126337152242
3Burnley2111822681841
4Sunderland21117332171540
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn2011452517837
6Middlesbrough21104735251034
7Watford2010462926334
8West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom2171132416832
9Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds218582630-429
10Swansea CitySwansea217682322127
11Bristol City216962626027
12Norwich CityNorwich216873632426
13Millwall206772018225
14Derby CountyDerby216692626024
15Coventry CityCoventry216692730-324
16Preston North EndPreston2141162127-623
17Stoke CityStoke215792328-522
18Queens Park RangersQPR2141072127-622
19Luton TownLuton2164112337-1422
20Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2046102133-1218
21Cardiff CityCardiff2046101932-1318
22Portsmouth193882134-1317
23Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2045111942-2317
24Hull City2137111930-1116


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!