These are your Cardiff City headlines on Friday, August 26.
Bluebirds linked with Everton man
Reports in France state Cardiff are looking to bring in left-back cover in the shape of Everton youngster Niels Nkounkou.
The Bluebirds suffered a huge blow earlier this month with news Jamilu Collins would miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Joel Bagan was drafted in to face Bristol City last weekend but had to leave the field early on with a concussion. The youngster is not expected to be out for long - although will miss Saturday’s game against Preston due to head injury protocols - but Steve Morison is keen for cover there.
READ MORE: Cardiff City on verge of signing Everton star Nkounkou in race against time
Asked if Cardiff were short in the left-back department, he said on Thursday: “Yeah, but it’s fine. Let’s hope whoever plays here we don’t lose in the first 10 minutes of the game! If the game was Sunday Joel would have played, but hopefully he’ll be fine.”
Nkounkou, L’Equipe report, will sign a new contract at Goodison Park before heading to south Wales on loan for the season. He has played for the Toffees twice since joining them two years ago. He spent the 2021/22 season with Belgian side Standard Liege.
Read the full story here.
Marsch opens door to Drameh exit
Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has opened the door to a potential exit for Cody Drameh before the September 1 deadline.
After a successful loan stint with the Bluebirds last season, Drameh's stock has risen, but a first-team spot at Elland Road for the campaign ahead is not a certain one.
As such, Marsch has admitted a decision still needs to be made on the full-back's short-term future.
“What happens with him going forward, I think it’s not totally solidified one way or the other quite yet," he said.
“The window is still open. I think he knows he wants to play games and that’s important for him, but we also value having him here. So we’ll see how that next week goes and exactly what comes out of it, but I can just say that in the moment, I think he’s fully a part of our team, in our club and he has a big future here.”
Cardiff lose Sala case
Cardiff City have been ordered by the Court of Arbitration in Sport to pay Nantes for the transfer of Emiliano Sala.
Sala died in tragic circumstances in January 2019 when the plane he was travelling in from France crashed in the English Channel en route to south Wales. The Bluebirds announced his signing two days beforehand. His body was found in February of that year. Pilot David Ibbotson also died in the crash. His body was never recovered.
In the aftermath of the incident there was a dispute between the two clubs over the transfer fee which eventually went to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. FIFA originally ordered Cardiff to pay the first instalment of the £15million transfer fee agreed with Nantes to buy the Argentine striker.
Cardiff presented their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland and the hearing took place in early March. A decision has now been reached and their appeal has been dismissed and it has been confirmed the transfer was completed before the striker's death. They will now have to pay the first installment of that fee - around €6million.
Cardiff have said they will appeal. Read the full story here.
King: Ng and Wintle key to move
Eli King has revealed Perry Ng and Ryan Wintle were instrumental in his loan move to Crewe.
On Thursday, it was confirmed the midfielder would join The Railwaymen until January. King had been featuring for the under-21s and impressing for Darren Purse’s men.
But the prospect of first-team football proved too tantalising. Ng and Wintle, who both played for Crewe, sold the club to King, he said.
He said: “Perry and Wints came to me and said a few people from Crewe had spoken to them about me.
“They really recommended the club, they said this is a great club and said I’d enjoy it and it would be a great move for me.
“I trust them because they are good lads, so they were a good influence on me deciding to come here.”
He added: “I’m really looking forward to it. First and foremost, I want to help the team. I know we’ve made a decent start so I want to add to that.
“I want to play games - the more I do that in stadiums and in front of fans, trying to earn points, the better. It’s exciting.”
Rowberry's heart scare
Newport manager and former Cardiff coach James Rowberry has revealed how a routine heart check-up saved his life.
The 37-year-old has had a pacemaker fitted after being diagnosed for third-degree atrioventricular heart block and undergoing heart surgery last month.
"I found out leading up to pre-season after a check-up with the LMA (League Managers Association) that I had something called complete AV heart block," Rowberry said ahead of Newport's Sky Bet League Two trip to Harrogate on Saturday.
"The worst kind that you can get as well, third degree, so it wasn't a great situation that I was in personally.
"In the build-up to the Sutton game I had a pacemaker fitted to keep me alive basically."
Rowberry had surgery on July 25 and was back at training just a few days later and in time for the season opener at Sutton.
The former Cardiff youth coach, who was appointed Newport manager last October, has been able to work as normal due to the pacemaker.
He said: "It was a surprise and a shock for my family, I didn't tell the players until a couple of days before the operation.
"It was something that I wasn't expecting to get at the age of 37, but it's nothing to do with football management or stress.
"For the first couple of weeks I felt horrendous. I wasn't feeling great but wanted to get on with it.
"I was supposed to be a lot calmer on the side but I'm not sure I was. That was a little bit of a tough period, but we got through it."
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