Cardiff City transfer bulletin as £3m signing nears and club make U-turn on move
Cardiff City are closing in on the signing of striker Yousef Salech.
WalesOnline last night reported a deal had been lined up to sign the striker, 22, who currently plays for Sirius in the Swedish top flight, with Omer Riza later confirming he was hopeful of getting a player through the door before this Saturday's derby with Swansea.
Born in Denmark, the forward, who last season scored 11 goals in 27 Allsvenskan games, has not played since the Swedish league finished on November 10, so there is a question mark over his match fitness, with Cardiff needing players to hit the ground running to get themselves out of this relegation scrap.
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It is understood Cardiff will pay more than £3m for Salech, who is set for a medical in the Welsh capital ahead of completing the deal. It will be Sirius's club-record sale.
While Salech succeeded in the top flight in Sweden and in the second tier in Denmark with HB Koge, for whom he scored 15 goals in 24 outings, he struggled on loan at Belgian Pro League side Beveren last season, with one goal in 16.
With the 6ft 4in forward set to come in, Roko Simic having been recalled from his loan at KV Kortrijk and Kion Etete now back fit, Riza has three strikers of very similar stature with comparable aerial threats. How that pecking order lines up is one to keep an eye on. Callum Robinson is back from suspension this weekend and it is hoped Isaak Davies will also be back before the end of the month, so there are positives in that regard.
Cardiff's interest in Ricky-Jade Jones appears to have faded after having a bid knocked back for the rapid Peterborough forward. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
Posh manager Darren Ferguson last week confirmed Cardiff had seen a big rejected for the 22-year-old winger, with the Bluebirds hellbent on adding pace to the squad this month. And it seems as though funds have now been allocated elsewhere for the time being, but loan deals are still on the table and being explored.
Elsewhere, Cardiff have made a U-turn on the decision to allow Cian Ashford to leave on loan. Riza last month said Ashford had been earmarked for a potential loan exit, but since then he has been the best player in the Bluebirds' squad.
The Wales youth international has three goals and two assists in his last six matches and is clearly now a very important player in Cardiff's bid for Championship survival.
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"There was talk of it," Riza said of a potential January exit for Ashford. "We have to try and help the player and sometimes a loan, like you've seen with Joel (Bagan), they go out, gain experience, confidence and he's stepping up a level now, which is what I wanted.
"Hopefully he will grasp that, take that forward as well. It's the same for Ash, he was going to go out (on loan), but he won't be going out on loan now!"