Neil Warnock believes some strikers did not want to join Cardiff after Emiliano Sala's disappearance
Friday 1 February 2019 12:50, UK
Neil Warnock feels strikers were reluctant to come to Cardiff towards the end of the transfer window following the disappearance of Emiliano Sala.
Sala and pilot David Ibbotson remain missing after the Piper Malibu plane carrying them over the English Channel disappeared on January 21, two days after the Argentine striker completed a club-record £15m move to Cardiff.
"One or two of the strikers we were talking about they didn't really want to come in the circumstances," Cardiff manager Warnock said ahead of Saturday's game against Bournemouth.
"They didn't want to come in after what's happened. So it's been a very difficult window."
But Warnock revealed they were close to signing someone else before financial demands from the player's representatives scuppered the deal.
"There was one other lad from abroad we were looking at," Warnock said.
"But the sort of finances that were being discussed, you would have thought he had been playing for his country on a regular basis.
"When they started talking about the sort of money I paid for Bacuna as a signing on fee and an agent's fee - I don't think we're into that really.
"I wouldn't jeopardise the club or the owners by condoning something like that, so we had to pull the plug on a couple of deals at the end of the day."
