Cardiff signed Etien Velikonja without Mackay's approval

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

This story is a yr old what fantastic journalism!!!

F'kn heads still in the Grange End

In other news, The President of the United States JFK has been mortally wounded in an expected assassination attempt by the United stated government.

got tan back in spades by signing cornelius though

Yes the story may be a year old, but why are they running it now, plenty of football to report on with the world cup, and transfer dealings, is it a introduction to other bigger issues at the club ? or am I just a conspiracy theorist ?

mind you given malky & moony transfer prowess wasnt surprising really? but you do wonder why its been re published?

mind you given malky & moony transfer prowess wasnt surprising really? but you do wonder why its been re published?

or is it just grange shiiiite stiring?

Mmmm did Cornelious and Brayford have Super Malkies approval

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullshit malky was tracking him at Watford

got tan back in spades by signing cornelius though

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

got tan back in spades by signing cornelius though

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

kept reading waiting for the more rescent bit.............well known Malky had been tracking him the previous year at Watford.........and said as much when he signed him { Malky wasnt a liar surely ? }

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foot ... ay-2027400

malky looked happy that he was signing him

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullshit Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullsh it Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Of course Malky would sing his praises, he's hardly going to say he didn't want him at the club is he!

The story confirms what Malky said in the interview about tracking him at Watford. Anything you add to that is pure speculation and you know it.

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullsh it Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Of course Malky would sing his praises, he's hardly going to say he didn't want him at the club is he!

The story confirms what Malky said in the interview about tracking him at Watford. Anything you add to that is pure speculation and you know it.

Your full of shit he said he track him and he glad he signed him ,you just make up any shit against the club I'm surprised you call yourself a Cardiff city fan all you do is moan ,if you don't like the club simple don't go

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullsh it Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Of course Malky would sing his praises, he's hardly going to say he didn't want him at the club is he!

The story confirms what Malky said in the interview about tracking him at Watford. Anything you add to that is pure speculation and you know it.

Your full of sh it he said he track him and he glad he signed him ,you just make up any sh it against the club I'm surprised you call yourself a Cardiff city fan all you do is moan ,if you don't like the club simple don't go

I think you'll find you was the one who initially moaned in this thread saying that Malky tracked him at watford, which is what this story has actually confirmed.

Your failure to debate properly without throwing insults and speculative accusations is making you look foolish. I will stick to facts, you stick to your assumptions, which could be right or wrong, but until proven, we will never know. Have a good day.

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullsh it Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Of course Malky would sing his praises, he's hardly going to say he didn't want him at the club is he!

The story confirms what Malky said in the interview about tracking him at Watford. Anything you add to that is pure speculation and you know it.

Your full of sh it he said he track him and he glad he signed him ,you just make up any sh it against the club I'm surprised you call yourself a Cardiff city fan all you do is moan ,if you don't like the club simple don't go

I think you'll find you was the one who initially moaned in this thread saying that Malky tracked him at watford, which is what this story has actually confirmed.

Your failure to debate properly without throwing insults and speculative accusations is making you look foolish. I will stick to facts, you stick to your assumptions, which could be right or wrong, but until proven, we will never know. Have a good day.

so Tan signed a player Malky had tracked, admired but didnt want ...then Malky had to lie because he didnt have the GUTS to say the truth or say nothing.?

Cardiff City signed Etien Velikonja without Malky Mackay's approval
• Club owner Vincent Tan went over manager's head
• Mackay did not want to sign the Slovenia striker

Stuart James

The Guardian

Etien Velikonja has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months at Cardiff City. Photograph: Adam Holt/Action Images
Vincent Tan's level of interference in his role as Cardiff City's owner has extended to signing a player without the prior approval of Malky Mackay or any of the manager's recruitment and scouting staff. Etien Velikonja, a Slovenian forward who cost €2m (£1.7m), arrived at Cardiff unannounced last year and via a deal that involved Jorge Mendes, one of the world's most high-profile football agents.

Velikonja signed a four-year contract when he joined from NK Maribor in July 2012 but has played only 73 minutes of league football in 15 months and completed only one game, when he was named in the starting XI for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Macclesfield in January. The 24-year-old, who earns a five-figure weekly salary, has not made the substitutes' bench once this season and, based on his transfer fee alone, has so far cost Cardiff £10,000 for every minute that he has played.

There is no suggestion that Velikonja or anyone else is guilty of any wrongdoing, with the player oblivious to the strange circumstances in which he signed for Cardiff, who were a Championship club at the time. Velikonja's transfer does, however, raise fresh questions about Tan's approach and the way he is running the club. It also brings up comparisons with Bébé – who famously joined Manchester United for £7.4m in 2010 and never started a league game. Bébé was represented by Mendes.

Only a fortnight ago the Guardian reported that Tan – who recently claimed that his investment in the club stands at £125m – has tried to pass messages from the stand during matches, including suggested tactical changes and substitutions. In another embarrassing development it was revealed that Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old from Kazakhstan who was controversially appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment after Iain Moody was sacked in October, has been forced to stand down from his position while the Home Office investigates his work permit.



The Velikonja deal opens another can of worms. It is understood that the transfer came about after Velikonja's name appeared on a list that Tan returned to Cardiff with after he had met Mendes in the summer of 2012. Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff.

Yet within a couple of days of Tan producing the list, a deal for Velikonja had been completed and the player arrived at the club's training ground accompanied by Joao Camacho, an agent who works for GestiFute, Mendes's company.

Zlatko Zahovic, NK Maribor's sporting director, refused to disclose at the time how much Cardiff had paid for Velikonja but said that it was a record sum for a Slovenian footballer. The fee registered on the Transfer Matching System, which was introduced by Fifa to bring greater transparency and enable clubs to confirm the terms and conditions of player transfers, is €2m. Some at Cardiff feel that the figure was way above Velikonja's market value.

In an interview with a Slovenia newspaper last December, Zahovic, who had a distinguished playing career that included spells with Porto, Olympiacos, Valencia and Benfica, confirmed that he negotiated the fee for Velikonja with Mendes. "Not even a big agent like Jorge Mendes can outsmart me," Zahovic told DNvevnik. "His first bid for Velikonja was €600,000. At the end they paid €2m. Mendes did not know that I knew what the club could offer. I knew exactly how much they could pay. In my job one has to be informed."

Zahovic told the Guardian this week that he did not know if Mendes was working on behalf of Cardiff. "I don't know, you must ask him. He was making negotiation between Cardiff and Maribor, nothing else."

Asked whether he had ever had any contact with anyone at Cardiff about Velikonja's transfer, Zahovic replied: "No, nobody." When questioned about the size of the transfer fee, Zahovic denied that it was high and said: "This price was special for Cardiff, because I think his value is more than €2m." Zahovic claimed to know nothing about whether Tan signed the player without Mackay knowing. "I don't know. This is not important for NK Maribor. This is a problem of Cardiff."

It is unclear what precise role Mendes and Camacho had in the transfer, whether they acted as official agents in the deal and whether they were paid by any of the parties. As for Velikonja, he has not played for Cardiff since the final day of last season, when he was given his first league start in a game that meant nothing to the Welsh club because they had already been crowned champions. He was substituted at half-time.

The Slovenia international publicly stated his desire to leave in August – "I want to move somewhere where I will play, as I surely won't get any chances at Cardiff" – but the Premier League club have struggled to find anyone to cover his wages. One offer from overseas would have left Cardiff paying virtually all of his salary.

Back in Slovenia, Velikonja's situation is viewed with a degree of bemusement. "As a young boy here in the Slovenian league he was the best scorer when he was 18," said Robert Vrtovec, president at ND Gorica, Velikonja's first club. "He had an injury and after recovering it was not the same Velikonja as before. But at Maribor he made big progress and he scored some important goals in the Europa League.

"The value of Velikonja before he was injured, we had offers of more than €1m for him. He was 18 then. It's difficult for me to judge. If I am a person who is not a buyer, I would like to have as much money as possible. If the buyer is stupid that he buys a player who, for example, is valued at €500,000 for €2m, it is his problem."

Both Cardiff and GestiFute failed to respond to questions about the transfer despite repeated requests from the Guardian.

Bullsh it malky was tracking him at Watford

Part of the story reads:

"Although Mackay had been interested in signing Velikonja several years earlier, when he was in charge of Watford, Cardiff had bigger ambitions and were operating at a different level to his former club in the transfer market because of Tan's determination to win promotion to the Premier League. The Guardian understands neither Mackay nor Moody wanted to sign Velikonja for Cardiff."

Stop bum chuming malky he said in his own words in a interview that he signed him ,you need to get past your hatred of the rebrand and tan ,get in the real world this story has been done to death

Wrong, Malky said he was previously tracking Velikonja in his interview which is exactly what this story says. If you want to make assumptions then that's up to you, keep continuously making yourself look foolish throwing out your false assumptions to promote your pro Tan, pro rebrand agenda.

I think you need to watch the interview before sprouting your Bullsh it Moody and malky sung his praises ,your bum chum signed him fact !

Of course Malky would sing his praises, he's hardly going to say he didn't want him at the club is he!

The story confirms what Malky said in the interview about tracking him at Watford. Anything you add to that is pure speculation and you know it.

Your full of sh it he said he track him and he glad he signed him ,you just make up any sh it against the club I'm surprised you call yourself a Cardiff city fan all you do is moan ,if you don't like the club simple don't go

I think you'll find you was the one who initially moaned in this thread saying that Malky tracked him at watford, which is what this story has actually confirmed.

Your failure to debate properly without throwing insults and speculative accusations is making you look foolish. I will stick to facts, you stick to your assumptions, which could be right or wrong, but until proven, we will never know. Have a good day.

so Tan signed a player Malky had tracked, admired but didnt want ...then Malky had to lie because he didnt have the GUTS to say the truth or say nothing.?

You couldn't make it up lol. Tonteg needs to stop letting the rebrand cloud his judgment

I'm not letting anything cloud my judgement. You called bullsh!t on the story stating that Malky tracked him while at Watford. The story actually confirms this. Since pointing that out to you because you didn't read the story properly, you've then added your own assumptions to this story which could be true or false, but until proven is pure speculation. Stick to whatever makes you happy though.

you don't have to quote everything someone says takes you an hour to scroll down the page!

I think this story may highlight one of the major reasons why Malky & Moody were eventually sacked, what if it was VT who signed him? ask yourselves where The Guardian got the story from in such detail? Inside the club no doubt. Therefore who leaked it to them? Malky and Moody perhaps? This to me highlights that Malky and Moody were always playing the media game against the owner and the club in favour of themelves Maybe why Malky is finding it difficult to get another job

In other news Malky still has not received any job offers.

In other news Malky still has not received any job offers.

the Brazil job just came up..........

They had a field day in the Premier League with us last season and seems like they want to do the same so we don't return any time soon. Posting stories which was common knowledge last season is just laughable. Hopefully the club stay professional and just stay quiet, out of the limelight

In other news Malky still has not received any job offers.

the Brazil job just came up..........

And Netherlands.