An emotional Graham Kavanagh says he hopes his enforced move from Cardiff to Wigan will help keep the club afloat. With financial problems mounting, the Bluebirds sold their captain for a cut-down price to fend off the ever increasing threat of administration.
Kavanagh told BBC Wales Sport: "I'm totally gutted to leave, but if it gives the club a chance to stabilise then it will have been the right move.
"But if it doesn't, well I hope it will not be in vain let's put it that way."
Cardiff owner Sam Hammam claims selling the Republic of Ireland midfielder was a necessary evil at a time for desperate measures.
Further delays to construction work on a new �100m stadium and retail park meant Cardiff failed to pay its �750,000 wage bill on time this week.
The club brought in auditors to examine possible cutbacks, and now fans fear Kavanagh, the club's first �1m signing, will be only the first of many top players to be sold on the cheap.
Hammam admits the club has been "mismanaged financial" but insists he will not allow the club to go into administration.
 |  Some [players] might still go but we hope none goes - we don't promise one way or another |
Such a move would bring an automatic 10-point league deduction, and would almost certainly seal Cardiff's relegation to League One.
As for Kavanagh, he says he is still trying to get to terms with "whirlwind" chain of events which has brought his four-year stay at Cardiff to an shock and abrupt end.
Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence said the midfielder "left the club in tears" as he headed for the private helicopter sent by Wigan to whisk him to the north west of England.
"It all started on Wednesday evening when I got a call from the manager telling me the club had accepted a bid from Wigan and basically I needed to go to speak with them," explained Kavanagh.
"I came into the club on Thursday morning and it seemed the deal was off. I was quite happy about that. Obviously I hadn't wanted to leave - I never even thought about leaving.
"We hadn't been paid this week but the messages we were getting was that we would be paid any day. As it transpired it seems the situation is more serious.
"So I left training on Thursday thinking the deal was off, but then I got a phone call saying it was back on.
"I had to come into the club to pick up my gear, said my goodbyes very quickly which was very difficult to say the least.
"I've been at the club nearly four years and the people there have not only become close associates but they've become friends and part of my life.
"Emotionally it's been hard because I'm leaving a club that's part of my blood.
| I've come to a very good club that's at the top of table and looking to get to the Premiership |
"And in some ways I feel I'm leaving a club where the job isn't complete.
"Things haven't gone to plan this season, but I was looking towards next season and maybe adding two or three players so we could challenge for a Premiership place.
"But now I've been told to leave to keep the club afloat and it's all just like a whirlwind. I flew up [Friday] morning and signed. That's how quickly it all happened."
Kavanagh was one of Hammam first major signings as he began building a squad he hoped would take Cardiff to the top flight.
The Premiership seems as far from Hammam's grasp as ever, but Kavanagh could soon be among England's elite wearing the blue of Wigan.
The irony is certainly not lost on the 31-year-old who says he always saw himself finishing his playing career at Ninian Park.
"From a professional point of view I've got to move forward," he said.
"I've come to a very good club that's at the top of table and looking to get to the Premiership - which is where I've always wanted to be.
"So in that respect it's been fortunate, but I never wanted to leave Cardiff."
MMIX
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