Cardiff forced Emiliano Sala transfer through as a matter of urgency to avoid relegation

EMILIANO SALA’S transfer was forced through after Cardiff identified him as “a critical hire”.

SunSport can reveal the club’s transfer committee coined the term after boss Neil Warnock went to watch Sala play for Nantes.

Warnock wanted the Argentinian forward’s presence in the second half of the season to help the Bluebirds’ chances of avoiding relegation.

Sala tragically died after the plane taking him to Cardiff crashed into the English Channel last month.

And SunSport can today reveal the agonising talks between senior figures at Cardiff that led to Sala making a £15million switch to the Premier League strugglers.

A Cardiff source said: “Neil felt strongly about this particular player.

“He is determined to keep the club in the Premier League.”

In tense negotiations between various parties on Cardiff’s transfer committee, one prominent member wanted to prioritise the team’s defence.

But with a loan deal to bring in Everton’s Oumar Niasse already well down the road, there was a reluctance to sign another striker in the January transfer window.

Cardiff also had Denmark forward Kenneth Zohore returning to the first-team fold on December 22.

Although Zohore has struggled to make an impact in the Premier League, some committee members felt  Cardiff already had enough options up front.

After weeks of complex negotiations with Nantes, Sala finally became a Cardiff player on January 19 for an “undisclosed fee”.

The single-engine Piper Malibu plane carrying Sala to Cardiff crashed on January 21.

Sala’s funeral was held in Argentina on Saturday but pilot David Ibbotson has still not been found.

Yesterday, SunSport revealed the ten key questions Cardiff want answered in full before they pay the £15m to Nantes.

They have called for police, FA and Fifa inquiries into Sala’s transfer, including who was due a payment from the deal.

They also want to know whether he was “third-party owned” — but will pay the transfer fee in full once they get the answers to their questions.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman has hinted at some issues and inconsistencies with the deal.

As a club, the Bluebirds want to know whether Sala was still a Nantes player when he boarded the flight, who arranged the fateful trip and whose decision it was to put him on the single-engine plane at night in freezing  conditions.

There are also questions about why the aircraft owner will not come forward and whether the plane was licensed for commercial passengers.