BREAKING: NEW STRIKER SIGNS FOR BLUEBIRDS

Cardiff City announce 'powerful' first January signing on long-term deal
walesonline

Cardiff City have announced their first January signing in the form of striker Yousef Salech, who has penned a four-year deal with the Bluebirds on the day of his 23rd birthday.

It is understood the deal could be worth as much as £3.3m if all bonuses and add-ons are triggered, which Swedish media claim is a club-record sale for Sirius. Of course, Cardiff's initial outlay is far less than that.

Cardiff have been desperate to add firepower in attack, having struggled in the striker department since the departure of Kieffer Moore three years ago. Callum Robinson has had to shoulder most of the goalscoring burden since his arrival but undoubtedly needs help.

The Bluebirds' two most recent striker signings - Salech and Roko Simic - are both in their early twenties and are untested in the English Football League, so represent something of a gamble. But Cardiff will hope Salech can kick on from his promising form last season - he scored 11 goals in 27 games in the Swedish top flight - and help them wade out of relegation trouble this term. Whether that form translates to the brutal Championship remains to be seen, of course.

Salech has been signed in time to be available for Saturday's South Wales derby, however he has not played since the Allsvenskan league season finished on November 10, so whether he is match fit is another question all together.

“I’ve been monitoring him for a while now. He’s a strong, powerful lad who can hold the ball up and bring people into play, but he’s also very good at getting beyond the opposition by making well-timed, intelligent runs," manager Omer Riza said.

“He’s dangerous in the box, he wants to get goals, and he’s got a lot of good attributes which will offer a huge amount. I think we’ve got a real gem here.


“He’s been working hard individually over the last five weeks, keeping himself in good condition. He hasn’t played since November, but he hasn’t had loads of rest either. He’s hungry and he wants to prove himself, and that’s what you want from your players.”

Salech was a prolific goalscorer with Hellerup IK in his native Denmark throughout youth football before sealing a move to Brondby in 2021. He went on loan in the second tier in Denmark with HB Koge and scored 15 in 24 appearances, but netted just once in 12 outings on loan at Belgian Pro League side Beveren last term. But after sealing a move to Sirius, he found form and scored 13 times in 29 games in all competitions for the Swedish club.

“I’m really happy to join the club. Cardiff City is a massive club – two cup finals in the last 20 years – so it’s a big club in the UK, and I’m really pleased to be here," Salech said.

“It’s a really nice stadium, and I’ve met some really nice people so far. The Championship is an interesting league; it’s competitive with some good teams, and I want to be part of that.

“I focus on scoring goals and creating chances for my teammates. I would say that I have a good physical package. I’d describe myself as a hardworking player who wants to do the best for the team."

Standing at 6ft 4ins, the forward has a physical and aerial presence which saw him become the subject of transfer interest from a number of teams in recent months, including Egyptian side Al Ahly, Molde top-flight outfit Molde and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, who now look set to sign Wilfried Kanga.

Salech, according to our expert insight from Sweden, is said to be "dangerous" in the box, however he must improve around the pitch if he is to add to his game. You can read more on that here.

His mother is from Poland, his father is from Palestine but moved to Jordan before settling in Denmark, where he was born.

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Welcome to Cardiff City FC, Yousef Salech…!

Welcome Yousef to the BLUEBIRDS

Yes Chris a very big welcome to him, at last

Welcome to the City big guy. Here's to you scoring many goals.

I reckon he's going to be a hit! looks the part!

Anyone know if he’ll be on bench tomorrow? Anything mentioned?

Welcome to the club, Yousef.

Four and a half year contract so the club obviously have high hopes for him.

Great to see us signing a striker!

Lets all get behind him and hope he fires us further up the table

Anyone know if he’ll be on bench tomorrow? Anything mentioned?

Wes posted yesterday that to be eligable, he's have to have been registered by midday. So 5 mins at the time of writing.

Great to get this signing over the line. Seems to tick a lot of the boxes in what you want you see in a striker that can lead the line.

Welcome to the club!!!

Finally, a striker signed. Let's hope he's a good investment. Good luck to him

Welcome and good luck.

Anyone know if he’ll be on bench tomorrow? Anything mentioned?

Wes posted yesterday that to be eligable, he's have to have been registered by midday. So 5 mins at the time of writing.

Club have said he's ready to go for tomorrow

My guess is he will be on the bench and probably get some minutes when Robinson is tiring.

Welcome to the club, Yousef.

Four and a half year contract so the club obviously have high hopes for him.

Possibly, on the high hopes. But also, a lot of clubs are giving longer contracts to players they’ve paid a transfer fee for. As they can depreciate the players value over that period. Helps the balance sheet.

Is he fit?

Is he fit?

Yes, ready to play tomorrow.

Is he fit?

Yes, ready to play tomorrow.

Great news!

Go make yourself an instant hero, Yousef!!

Anyone know if he’ll be on bench tomorrow? Anything mentioned?

Wes posted yesterday that to be eligable, he's have to have been registered by midday. So 5 mins at the time of writing.

Club have said he's ready to go for tomorrow

My guess is he will be on the bench and probably get some minutes when Robinson is tiring.

Cheers
Come on as sub to score a 3-0 win and smash Darling into the net in the process.
That would be nice

Reminds me of rudy gestede.

Hopefully we as supporters give him time to at least settle in I will say he looks the part fingers crossed for the boy

Welcome and hopefully he comes good what we don't want is a month without seeing him like most other signings with the old he's not ready yet excuse while we are losing them games but fingers crossed

He will be carrying a huge burden of fan expectation so I wish him good fortune. A goal on his debut coming on at the 80th minute to win the derby would be neat. Fantasy - I know.

He has all the attributes of someone who could be a complete nuisance in this division.

If Riza is right and we have found a ‘gem’, then we could be on for a bit of a profit when he leaves too.

No doubt the ‘not good enough, unproven, he’s a dud’ brigade are waiting in the wings for him to fail though.

I wonder how long it will be before he gets some derogatory name given to him by the usual suspects. 3 games max if he doesn't score would be my bet.

Song
"Welcome to New Ninian
You're Polish Palestinian
La la lah lah
La la lah lah"

I wonder how long it will be before he gets some derogatory name given to him by the usual suspects. 3 games max if he doesn't score would be my bet.

One substitute appearance of 3 minutes would be my guess.

If he gets any game time tomorrow, there will be at least one person on here who says ‘this is why we fail he’s a dud isn’t made for English football bla bla bla’

Go smash it YOUSEF BLUEBIRDS

I wonder how long it will be before he gets some derogatory name given to him by the usual suspects. 3 games max if he doesn't score would be my bet.

One substitute appearance of 3 minutes would be my guess.

If he gets any game time tomorrow, there will be at least one person on here who says ‘this is why we fail he’s a dud isn’t made for English football bla bla bla’

Agree with you both, he needs to be given the time to settle. Obviously not too much time given our league position but he shouldn't be written off if he doesn't score in his first game.

In an ideal world, he'll score in one of his first two or three games and that will take a lot of pressure off.

He has all the attributes of someone who could be a complete nuisance in this division.

If Riza is right and we have found a ‘gem’, then we could be on for a bit of a profit when he leaves too.

No doubt the ‘not good enough, unproven, he’s a dud’ brigade are waiting in the wings for him to fail though.

I don't think any true City fan would want any new player to fail - I certainly don't. I want the guy to score a shedfull of goals, as I did with Kanga when he signed!

However, I can quite understand any scepticism out there given our mainly dreadful track record with strikers since Keiffer Moore moved on. It's the hope that kills you and we've been let down alot for 3 or 4 seasons.