Neil Warnock on Emiliano Sala: Cardiff boss reveals he considered retirement and says 'it's impossible to sleep'

  • Cardiff players and staff have been offered counselling after the disappearance of new signing 
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Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has admitted that he considered retiring from football following the disappearance of new signing Emiliano Sala.

After signing for Cardiff for £15million, Sala returned to Nantes to collect his belongings and say goodbye to team-mates and staff of the Ligue 1 club before heading back to the United Kingdom.

However, the plane carrying Sala disappeared over the Channel on Monday evening.

The official search for the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was called off on Thursday, before being resumed over the weekend after £280,000 was raised to continue the search privately .

Speaking to the media ahead of Tuesday night's Premier League match against Arsenal , Warnock said: "You think 24 hours a day about whether to carry on.

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
Ben Birchall/PA Wire

"It's impossible to sleep. I've been in football management for 40 years and it's been by far the most difficult week in my career, by an absolute mile.

"It's been a traumatic week and even now I can't get my head around the situation.

"It's probably hit me me harder than anyone else as I've met the lad and talked to him for the last six to eight weeks."

Cardiff players and staff have been offered counselling, and Warnock admitted that he is struggling to process the situation away from the club.

"You have to in this instance. Who motivates the motivator?

"I am OK when I'm in the public eye or with the players, it's when I'm at I'm on my own or at home that you think about it.

"It'a probably the lads you don't expect that needed more help. But I don't think it does any harm to talk to anyone else. It's been noticeable that three of four lads have been really poor."

Cardiff captain Sol Bamba will lay a bunch of daffodils on the Emirates pitch before kick-off, while the Arsenal captain will lay a bunch of tulips at the same time.

Missing | Pilot David Ibbotson

The search for the missing striker was resumed over the weekend after £280,000 was raised to continue the search privately.

But Sala’s family have been able to arrange for two boats to start looking again after £280,000 was raised via a GoFundMe page. Lionel Messi is said to be among the footballing stars to donate to the fund.

Tributes for Emiliano Sala at Cardiff City FC - In pictures

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The Piper PA-46 Malibu plane had disappeared from radar as they flew over the English Channel on their way to Cardiff from Nantes, France, on Monday night.

Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri had backed Sala’s family in calling for the search to resume.

Warnock said that the incident puts football into perspective, and fully understands why the family want the search to go on.

"I quite understand (sister) Romina's stance," Warnock continued.

"If it was my kid, I'd want everybody looking at it forever. It's such a strange situation, everybody is hoping like the family.

"Football is important, relegation and things are important, but in the context of life, it just opens everybody's eyes, whether you are involved with Cardiff or any of the families."

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