Forget It Neil Warnock: Splashing £12m On This Premier League Attacker Could Be A Blunder For Cardiff

Why It Would Be A Bad Move By Cardiff To Sign West Ham’s Diafra Sakho

Championship promotion hopefuls Cardiff City are reportedly targeting a very ambitious swoop for West Ham United striker Diafra Sakho in January.

Despite fine contributions lately from Lee Tomlin, Junior Hoilett and left-back Joe Bennett, the Bluebirds are very much short on numbers in forward positions, given that both Kenneth Zohore and Danny Ward are out injured. Tomlin and and Bennett provided the goals in Cardiff’s comeback at Reading on Monday night as they drew 2-2 at the Madejski but boss Neil Warnock knows well that they cannot keep relying on such players.

All of this has led to the Welsh club looking at potentially bringing in Sakho from the Hammers, in what would be an extraordinary January transfer for the club in what is claimed to be a £12million deal for the Senegalese international. This would seem unlikely at first glance given Cardiff’s very limited transfer budget.

The striker has scored 5 goals in 17 appearances for West Ham and Senegal this season, but just one of those strikes has been in the Premier League and David Moyes doesn’t appear to be rushing to Sakho as his goal-scoring saviour. So, while Cardiff wait for news on the fitness of both Ward and Zohore who is due back sometime in the New Year, they may be tempted to spend big on Sakho to ensure they remain in the hunt for automatic promotion.

Surely, this cannot be seen as a good deal though? Sakho’s record in the league that Cardiff are trying to reach is simply not good enough. He will cost way more than Cardiff are usually prepared to pay and they would basically just be funding West Ham United’s next big transfer, given that Sakho is out of contract in the summer.

Although some would argue he has not proved it yet in the top division, Kenneth Zohore is arguably a better player than Sakho and so it would seem ridiculous to spend £12million on Sakho. On that score, a lot would depend on how confident the club are about Zohore’s comeback from injury.

Either way, this deal would represent really bad value for Cardiff and surely this would be set up purely for the benefit of West Ham. The fact is that the London club signed Sakho in 2014 and the player has gone on to contribute 17 league goals in 61 games and would leave for free in July. Cardiff would be wise to steer clear.