Transfer of Emiliano Sala from FC Nantes to Cardiff City F.C.

Emiliano Sala, an Argentine striker, signed for French Ligue 1 side Nantes from Derby de l'Atlantique rivals Girondins de Bordeaux on 20 July 2015, signing a five year contract for a fee of £600k (€1m).[1][2] At the time of his move to Cardiff City, he was 28 years old and was the top goalscorer for Nantes during his final season at the club, having scored 13 goals in 21 appearances in the Ligue 1 season. Sala had nearly been loaned out to Turkish club Galatasaray in the summer, as he was not deemed to be in the plans of manager Miguel Cardoso.[3][4] Earlier in 2018, English team Brighton & Hove Albion had a bid accepted in excess of €10m before Sala rejected the opportunity,[5] and he also turned down a move to Chinese club Beijing Renhe the next month.[6]

At the time Cardiff established their interest in Sala in December 2018, they had recently been promoted from the EFL Championship but were struggling to score goals in the Premier League, with their top goalscorer of the season to that point being makeshift centre forward Callum Paterson with four goals; the situation led Cardiff manager Neil Warnock to attend a Nantes game against Marseille in December to personally scout Sala, who would score his final ever goal in the game.[7] Sala's contract with Nantes ran a further 18 months, and it was believed that their initial asking price of £25m could be reduced to £15m, with Warnock's personal visit to France making Cardiff the most likely destination amid interest from other Premier League clubs.[8]

	Emiliano Sala	Twitter
	@emilianosala1

La ultima ❤️ ciao FCNantes 👋🏻💛💚

21 January 2019[9]

In December 2018, Cardiff agreed a transfer fee of £15m (€20m) with Nantes for Sala, but later in the month Warnock announced there was doubt as to whether the deal would commence, as Nantes had changed their asking price,[10] saying he and Cardiff would not be "held to ransom",[11] while Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman admitting their pursuit for Sala was "not going well".[12] On 27 December, Nantes officially rejected Cardiff's offer,[13] and it appeared increasingly unlikely the transfer would proceed as Sala reportedly favoured a move to a team participating in European competition,[14] rather than a team battling relegation.[15] Nantes manager Vahid Halilhodžić repeatedly express his desire for Sala to remain at the club.[16][17]

Sala remained a target for Cardiff,[18] and Warnock again travelled to France to watch Sala in action,[19] while on 12 January Dalman revealed the deal was "not dead", asking for fans to be patient.[20] At the behest of Nantes chairman Waldemar Kita,[21] Sala travelled to Cardiff on 14 January with his agent Meissa N'Diaye for a meeting with Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo,[22] described as "constructive" by Mark McKay, Nantes acting representative in the transfer talks.[23] With the deal close to being completed, Sala was reported to have withdrawn from the Nantes squad scheduled to play Nîmes Olympique on 16 January,[24] but later that evening Sala was named by Nantes as a substitute.[25]

On the morning of 18 January, Sala flew back to Cardiff to conduct a medical ahead of the transfer.[26] which was announced to have been completed later that day.[27] Sala rejected a "huge" offer from an undisclosed Chinese club,[28] and the signing was completed the next day, with Sala signing a three and a half year contract,[29] but was finalised too late for him to be able to appear in a Premier League fixture against Newcastle United the following day.[30] Sala remained in Cardiff to complete press duties, and was officially unveiled as a Cardiff player at 7pm on 19 January, with his first game now scheduled to be against Arsenal on 22 January,[31] before flying back to Nantes to collect his personal belongings and say goodbye to his Nantes teammates.[30]

On 26 January, Cardiff announced that they had frozen all transfer payments pending investigation,[46] and soon after, Sala's former club Bordeaux issued a statement denying reports they had demanded payment which they were due as part of a sell-on clause.[47] On 6 February, it was reported that Nantes had sent letters to Cardiff threatening legal action if the first payment, believed to be £5.27m (€6m),[48] was not made within 10 working days.[49] Cardiff told the media that the timing was "wrong",[50] and would only make any payment once a full investigation into the crash had been completed.[51] Questions which Cardiff wanted answers to included the reasoning behind Sala travelling in a private plane when the club had offered a commercial flight, and the involvement of agent Willie McKay.[52]

On 12 February, Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said the club were still gathering information as to whether a payment would be made and if they were "contractually obliged" to do so.[53] With the payment still not made by 19 February, Nantes were preparing to take the issue to Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of the sport,[54] but the following day the two clubs agreed an extension of a week for the first payment.[55] Cardiff were looking into whether an insurance claim of £16m would still be paid out, as any wrongdoing on their part with regards to Sala's flight would annul any policy,[56] and manager Neil Warnock was confident Cardiff were doing things "in the right way".[57]

"It is really complicated and I feel very strongly about it. 'Why don't we just pay the money?' The answer to that is it's £15m. If we don't have to pay, why should we? There is a lot more to this than perhaps people sometimes realise, things that still need to come out. As chairman, I'm the guardian of this football club and I have to do what's right for us. Do you know, even if we had £15m to spare, were willing to throw money away, my decision would not be any different. There are certain principles we have to act upon."

— Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman on the reason for the dispute.[58]

With the extended deadline for the payment passed, Nantes officially reported Cardiff to FIFA regarding the non-payment on 27 February.[59][60] Cardiff maintained their stance that all facts regarding the event should be determined before progressing,[61] and the following month Cardiff told FIFA the agreement to sign Sala was not legally binding,[62][63] contending they had not agreed personal terms with Sala as the Premier League had ruled Sala's demand for his signing-on fee to be paid 100% up front was invalid, and at the time of his death no renegotiations had taken place to make the payments over the course of his contract.[64][65] At the beginning of April, Cardiff wrote to Nantes to request a meeting to settle the matter directly, but received no response,[66][67] and so on 15 April, Cardiff submitted their evidence of the case to FIFA,[68][69] which left Nantes until the end of May to decide whether to take the case forward.[70] Consequently, the transfer was not included in a full list of transactions involving agents published by The Football Association.[71]

On 30 September, FIFA ruled in favour of Nantes and demanded that Cardiff must pay the first instalment,[72][73] with both clubs given 10 days to lodge an appeal.[74] Cardiff quickly announced their intent to appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), stating that there was "clear evidence that the transfer agreement was never completed".[75][76] FIFA's involvement was concluded on 4 November, when they ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the first instalment within 45 days or face a transfer ban of three consecutive windows.[77][78] Cardiff appealed the decision to CAS, saying FIFA had reached their decision based only on a "narrow aspect of the overall dispute".[79] CAS confirmed the appeals process has begun a month later, announcing it would take place in Spring 2020,[80][81] but was delayed first in May 2020 and again in August, with no fixed hearing date set.[82][83]

On 28 January 2020, it was revealed that Cardiff, through French law firm Dupond-Moretti Vey,[84] had sent files to French prosecutors as part of a lawsuit against Nantes, and an unnamed individual believed to be chairman Waldemar Kita,[85][86] saying that "sufficient evidence of wrongdoing" had been found,[87][88] reiterating their commitment to establishing the full facts of the situation before paying any part of the transfer fee.[89] In the lawsuit, lawyer Antoine Vey alleged "the existence of hidden commissions and sub-commissions".[85] Nantes released a statement in response to the allegations, accusing Cardiff of exploiting Sala's death.[90]

In February 2020, The Daily Telegraph uncovered evidence McKay had been working with Nantes in another transfer, that of Abdoulaye Touré to West Ham before the move broke down, with Dehman saying ongoing relationship was "insane".[91] In July, the McKay's were accused of having an illegal double mandate in the transfer; firstly from Nantes to sell Sala, and secondly from West Ham United to purchase the player.[92]

• Harris, Harry (2019). The Killing of Emiliano Sala: The Inside Story of the Tragic Transfer (1st ed.). Empire Publications Ltd. p. 288. ISBN 9781909360723.