Authorities abandoned the search for the plane three days later but a privately-funded underwater search found the wreckage on Sunday and a body retrieved was formally identified on Thursday as Sala's.
"I always thought he was a type of player that would score 10 or 15 for me at the top level every year. But not just that, he would work hard as a team player," Warnock told reporters ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Southampton.
"He was at the prime, I felt, and he knew he had things to prove. He'd been in a comfort zone in France, he'd improved every year.
"I think he was ready, if a little bit fearful of the challenge ahead."
Warnock said Cardiff had asked the Premier League to wear shirts with a yellow daffodil to pay tribute to Sala and David Ibbotson, the pilot of the aircraft.
"When something like this happens it brings all the football family together. It's a loss to everyone in football," Warnock added.
"I know we're the closest, but when you see the response from world-class players and the amount of money they were able to raise (to resume the search for the wreckage) in the space of a few hours, it was amazing."
Clubs in France's Ligue 1 and 2, where Sala played for the majority of his career, will hold a minute's applause before this weekend's matches in his memory.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
