Neil Warnock has led tributes to Sol Bamba, describing the late footballer as a "ray of sunshine" following his passing at the age of 39.

 The former defender, who played under Warnock at Cardiff and Middlesbrough, passed away on Saturday in Turkey.

Neil Warnock, left, managed Sol Bamba at Cardiff and Leeds (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

Neil Warnock has honored Sol Bamba, calling him "a ray of sunshine" in the wake of Bamba's death at the age of 39.

The former Cardiff, Leeds, and Hibernian defender passed away on Saturday in Turkey, where he was managing Adanaspor. He had missed their match against Manisa on Friday after being hospitalized.

The football world has paid tribute to Bamba, with Warnock among those honoring the defender. Warnock, who managed Bamba at Cardiff, led the team to Premier League promotion together in 2018.

Bamba was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 but made a comeback to play again under Warnock, first for Cardiff City and then for Middlesbrough.

Warnock shared on X: "I can't believe I won't see that beaming smile again."

“I’m grateful that Sol was a part of my life and that we shared so many wonderful memories.

“My heart goes out to Chloe, Sol’s wife, and the rest of the family. My thoughts are with them during this difficult time.

“Sol was truly a ray of sunshine, and I will miss him deeply.”

Chloe Bamba honored her late husband with a heartfelt post on Instagram, expressing that "it was an honor to have loved and been loved by Sol."

She wrote, “Over the past few years, I witnessed Sol confront his cancer with incredible mental and physical strength and stoicism. Unfortunately, it was never a fair fight. Just when things seemed to be improving, he took a turn for the worse and passed away on August 31st.

“These years have been indescribably tough, but we still found moments of joy and laughter. I’ve faced my darkest days but also experienced some of my brightest.

“Sol accepted his fate as God’s will and left this world knowing, without any doubt, that he was deeply loved. I made sure of that.”