Cardiff are confident of making Emiliano Sala their record signing after the Nantes striker arrived in the Welsh capital for talks.
The Bluebirds hope to complete a deal worth around £20million for the 28-year-old Argentinian.
The former Bordeaux and Caen forward has been Cardiff’s number one January target, with manager Neil Warnock having made two visits to France over the last few weeks to watch Sala play in Ligue 1.
Warnock had suggested the chase for Sala was over last Friday, saying: “Nothing’s completely off the agenda. But quite a few things will have to change for it to be back on.
But chairman Mehmet Dalman said before Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Huddersfield that the Sala deal was “not dead”.
“There is still dialogue going on and we will see what happens over the next few days,” Dalman told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
“Watch this space over the next 10 days.”
If the deal is completed, the fee would beat the £11m Cardiff paid for Chile midfielder Gary Medel in 2013 and set a new club record.
Sala has scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season, putting him in third place in the French scoring charts behind Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe (14) and Lille’s Nicolas Pepe (13).
If Sala does sign, he would be expected to go straight into the Cardiff side for the crunch relegation battle at Newcastle on Saturday.
As well as a striker, Warnock has made no secret that he also wants to sign a right-back and a midfielder during the January transfer window.
Cardiff have so far missed out on Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne, who last week joined Bournemouth on loan for the rest of the season.
Nice midfielder Adrien Tameze was also the subject of a failed Cardiff offer, and Dalman said last weekend it was unlikely that a deal for the 24-year-old could be resurrected.
