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NEIL WARNOCK admits he will have his work cut out in the January sales.
The Cardiff boss wants a new full-back, midfielder and striker to help keep his side in the Premier League.
He has been to France to watch Nantes’ £20m-rated Argentine striker Emiliano Sala and would love to be reunited with Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne, who he managed at Crystal Palace.
But the veteran boss accepts his club are a hard sell.
“It is very difficult to attract established Premier League players and we can only attract a certain type of player because we are favourites to get relegated,” said Warnock.
“It has never been easy to sign players because you have to convince them it is the right place for them to come and you have the right team.
“It was definitely manager to player in the past. But now you have a job to get to a player because they are surrounded by so many people.
“It is always good to know from the start that the player is willing to come.
“Otherwise, you can do all the work and then find out the player himself doesn’t want to come.
“I saw my first signing at Gainsborough Trinity in 1980, Andy Lodge, this week.
“I talked him into signing from Blackburn Rovers, where he was on £25 per week, to Gainsborough, even though I told him I could only pay him £20.
“I convinced him I was going to be a success and he was going to come with me.
“We’ve spoken about a number of players, but even with the ones we’d like to sign, there are no guarantees they’re going to do it in the Premier League regardless of how much you pay.”
The 14th-placed Bluebirds do not have a director of football so Warnock is in the thick of it with his chairman, Mehmet Dalman, and chief executive, Ken Choo.
“We’re looking at targets all over the show, crossed a few off this week and added one or two as well,” added Warnock, ahead of today’s trip to Watford.
“January is difficult and you sometimes pay over the top. I don’t want to bring in anybody who’s not better than what we’ve already got. It’s as difficult as I’ve ever seen it.”