Cardiff City: Yousef Salech exit claims made - post-West Brom incident offers hope | OneFootball

FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit has named which one player he'd least like to see leave the club this summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Cardiff City have suffered relegation to League One before the final round of fixtures in the Championship season.

The Bluebirds have not been as low as the third division since 2003, but a 0-0 draw with West Brom has consigned the club to the drop.

The Welsh outfit will now be planning for the summer ahead, as they look to appoint a new permanent manager.

The upcoming transfer window will also be quite important, especially as players might leave in a bid to remain in the Championship for next season.

Yousef Salech exit fears

When asked which one player he’d least like to see leave this summer, FLW’s Cardiff fan pundit Matt Hall named Yousef Salech.

He believes the forward is a style of player that is very difficult to find nowadays, and that is he one of the better forwards in the Championship despite a lack of service from his teammates.

"It’s a very simple answer for me, it is Yousef Salech for two main reasons," Hall told Football League World.

"Number one, he’s a goalscorer with brilliant hold-up play, as far as target men go.

"I think the second half of the season since he’s been there, I would put a fair bit of money forward to say he’s been one of the better forwards in the Championship, considering that embarrassing lack of service you would get as a striker at Cardiff.

"I know that he’s in the top percentile for strikers with aerial duels won.

"I’ve not seen a striker like Kieffer Moore back into centre-halves and win their duels, which is really hard considering he comes from Swedish football as a really young man.

"That is just unheard of really, just got to grips with it straight away.

"And he’s a poacher in the box, he scores goals.

"He’s always in the right area, and that’s the on the pitch footballing side of things as for why we’d be desperate for him to stay because you just can’t buy those nowadays.

"Especially for the amount of money we got him for.

Salech transfer departure claim

Hall is confident that Salech won’t depart the club he joined just last January, suggesting he’s shown how much he’s bought into the team in a short span of time.

"But secondly, it’s the way he’s bought into the club," he added.

"At full-time on the weekend, he was in tears more than any other player that you saw, in the arms of some of the coaching staff.

"He looked physically hurt by getting relegated, and he’s emphasised how much he loves the fans, how much he’s bought into the club and shown that on the pitch.

"And said he would happily stay, so there would be part of me that would be absolutely devastated if he did get taken away from us.

"However, I’m quite confident he won’t be because we should be demanding a lot of money for him, and I don’t think he’s the sort that would force a move."

Cardiff will end the campaign away to Norwich City on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick-off.

Salech will be key to League One season

Salech has stood out as a strong performer for Cardiff despite their struggles since his arrival.

If the club are going to have a promotion push next year to get back into the Championship, then retaining Salech will be key.

The forward bagged six goals from 19 appearances in the second tier, so has the potential to be prolific at League One level with the right players around him.