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OOutside Paris, goals may be rare in Ligue 1. But since his arrival in Nantes, Emiliano Sala scored more than most. He has been outstanding in the first half of this season and has attracted interest from abroad. After traveling twice to Wales to get along with Cardiff, he returned to Nantes to bid farewell to his teammates Monday night.
"The last goodbye" was the legend that Sala had posted on a social networking site surrounded by them on the training grounds of the club before being driven to the airport for his return to the country of Wales and Premier League football by Nicolas Pallois, Nantes defender and close friend Sala was expected to arrive in Cardiff at 9 pm, but never arrived after the plane in which he was traveling was gone over the Channel.
Sala was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, but has lived in France since his teenage years. Five years in Argentina at the partner club of Bordeaux, Proyecto Crecer, finally led him to The Girondins in 2010. He scored 18 goals on loan with the Orleans third-tier club in 2012-13, which convinced the Ligue 2 team, Niort, to loan the young striker again on loan for the next campaign. Eighteen more goals in the league earned him a place in the Bordeaux team of Willy Sagnol for the 2014-15 season.
Sala discovered a second family in Bordeaux. Marcelo Vada, the coach of the under-16 club, also from Argentina, and his son Valentin, also a graduate of Proyecto Crecer, hosted Sala during his stay in Bordeaux. Valentine, who has become a younger brother of Sala, tweeted Tuesday morning: "Come on, brother! Please come back.
Yacine Bammou, who played at Sala in Nantes, also felt a sense of fraternal loss when he heard the news. "It's really very difficult, even for those around me. He often came to my house, he was my brother. Bammou had been in contact with Sala two days earlier: "I told him about FaceTime. I congratulated him for his signature. We laughed well.
Sala started the 2014-15 season in Bordeaux, but after a goal in 11 Ligue 1 games, he was again loaned to Caen, where his performances improved. Sala scored five times in the second half of the season, including in a 2-2 draw with PSG. Nantes was sufficiently convinced to spend 1 million euros to use his services that summer.
His form was a bit wavy during his first season with Canariesbut six goals made him the top scorer in Ligue 1. He grew up in his role at the club. Recognized as a single manager by a multitude of managers, he has become even more efficient. Intimidating the defenders with his physicality and supreme air ability, Sala scored 12 in each of the next two seasons.
This season, Sala has been a revelation. A familiar total of 12 goals was achieved in less than half the time he had taken the previous year. He remained one of the rare constants during a tumultuous season for Nantes. Although not always present in Miguel Cardoso's starting lineup, Sala was prolific, apparently marking every opportunity that was offered to him – whether he was private or not. At one point, only Kylian Mbappé had a better goals / minutes ratio in Europe's top leagues.
Vahid Halilhodzic replaced Cardoso in October and, under the leadership of the Bosnian leader, Sala is often unplayable. His devastating hat trick against Toulouse was a highlight and his goal in a 3-2 win over Marseille showed – as he has done several times lately – that he was becoming a complete striker of superior quality. With the goals scored, he was at one point the most prolific Argentinian striker of the best European championships – which was not an easy task considering the competition.
His total of 42 goals in the league in three and a half years has attracted interest abroad and Cardiff has finally reached an agreement with Nantes. Sala, who was happy in the city and did not want to move, initially considered not offering clubs that could offer him European football. He refused a move to China that would bring in three times more than Cardiff that he had promised the Welsh club to sign.
The transfer of Sala to the Premier League may have been decisive for the career. His Twitter profile was already showing him with a surprised smile in a blue Cardiff shirt. Like his devastated father, Horacio, explained on Argentine television: "For him, as for all of us, his transfer to Cardiff was a big step forward. It's a boy who's always beaten. A humble boy. I can not believe it. I am desperate … I do not know what will happen … I hope that good news will arrive. My family did not know anything. I had to tell them. "
Humble but trained; that sums up Sala. Defenders are struggling to manage his imposing presence, but his former teammates and colleagues love him. As the president of Nantes, Waldemar Kita, said Tuesday morning: "He was a polite, kind and lovable boy, loved by all." Patrice Garande, who headed it in Caen, said: "I have been in the news since this morning, I am waiting for it, I can not bring myself to believe it – it is not possible. This boy has made my life an absolute pleasure on and off the field for six months. "
As Bammou explained, Sala has always improved the atmosphere in Nantes: "In the locker room and in everyday life, he was the first to tease. He made a lot of jokes.
We may never know how Sala would have behaved in Cardiff and the Premier League, but his combination of boundless enthusiasm and optimism on the ground and beyond, badociated with a largely shy personality vis-à-vis the media, has left a positive indelible mark on anyone who plays with it. The influx of affection and hope messages expressed in social media or during talks Tuesday with teammates, clubs, managers, supporters and officials in France and at – with many players just tweeting "Emi …" – testify. Sala had worked hard to achieve her goals and her career had just begun to flourish. His star will continue to shine brightly.
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