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Nicolas Atkin

Audio of Emiliano Sala’s final messages to friends before his plane was lost over the English Channel has emerged.
Cardiff City’s record £15 million (US$19.5 million) signing is missing and presumed dead after his private plane went off radar on Monday night at 8.23pm.


The Piper PA-46 Malibu plane had taken off from Nantes Atlantique airport around an hour earlier, and disappeared north of Guernsey as it made its way to Cardiff.
A search was suspended on Tuesday night, with Guernsey police saying the chances of survival were “slim” if the plane landed in water.
Ronaldo’s private jet selfie riles Lineker amid search for Emiliano Sala’s plane
The Argentinian striker, signed from French Ligue 1 side Nantes, was set to train with his new teammates on Tuesday. The Premier League club has since cancelled the training session.
“Hello, little brothers, how are you crazy people?” Sala says in audio messages posted to Argentinian website Ole.com, which claims they were sent to a WhatsApp group of friends and other players.

“Brother, I’m really tired, I was here in Nantes doing things, things, things, things and things, and it never stops, it never stops, it never stops.
“I’m here on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’m going to Cardiff, crazy, tomorrow we already start, and in the afternoon we start training, boys, in my new team.”
The 28-year-old then sent another message later saying: “How are you guys, all good? If you do not have any more news from me in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they need to send someone to find me … I am getting scared!”
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It has also emerged that Sala expressed concern about the plane to Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois, who dropped him off at the airport, which he said had been “bumpy” when he took it from Cardiff to France on Sunday, and also texted to say the plane was making “weird noises”.

The French civil aviation authority confirmed Sala was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing.
Guernsey police said in a tweet they had found “a number of floating objects in water” after searching a 3,000-square kilometre area for 15 hours, but “no signs of those on board”.
Opinion: What every football club should learn from Leicester owner’s life
Sala joined Nantes in 2015 and had scored 13 goals in all competitions this season for the struggling club.

He had signed a three-and-a-half year deal with relegation-battling Cardiff on Saturday, saying: “I’m very happy to be here. It gives me great pleasure and I can’t wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work.”
Ken Choo, the executive director and CEO of the Welsh club, said they were “praying for positive news”.
“We were very shocked upon hearing the news that the plane had gone missing,” Choo said. “We expected Emiliano to arrive last night into Cardiff and today was due to be his first day with the team.
“Our owner, Tan Sri Vincent Tan, and chairman, Mehmet Dalman, are all very distressed about the situation.”

Choo later told Sky Sports: “We called off training today because everybody is not in the right frame of mind. Everybody is shocked at this point in time, including myself.
“The second thing is I met him on Friday and he is such a nice person. He’s so, so happy to be here and so happy to start. Words can’t describe the look on his face when he met us and we walked him around the ground.
“We knew him then and we really feel sad to hear of this news because he’s such a great person. I think you could see the happiness in his face, one of the best days of his life as he expressed. So we are very sad, we want to thank people who have supported us today, with lots of messages and emails.”

Sala’s tearful father Horacio told local press in Progreso, Argentina, where the player’s family lives, that he was fearing the worst.
“I don’t know anything, nobody spoke to me, not a call from the embassy, the club, nobody,” he said. “All I want is for you to find him.”
Leicester City tragedy latest in football’s long history of air disasters
Hundreds of Nantes fans held a vigil in the city centre on Tuesday night to pay tribute to their former striker, whose last post on Instagram showed him with his former teammates, captioned with the words “the last goodbye”.
Nantes fans placed flowers and team scarves in the fountain at La Place Royale, and also laid down Sala’s national flag or Argentina.
“I still have hope, he is a fighter,” Nantes president Waldemar Kita tweeted.


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English Premier League

Emiliano Sala audio messages: missing Cardiff striker tells friends ‘I’m on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart’

Emiliano Sala during a match at La Beaujoire stadium in Nantes. Photo: AFP

Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, speaks during an interview outside his home in Progreso, Argentina, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The French civil aviation authority says the 28-year-old Argentine striker was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey on Monday. "I don't know what to think. ... The hours pass and I am just beginning to think the worst," Sala told media gathered outside the family home. (AP Photo/Mauricio Garin)

Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, and his partner Carina Mercedes Taffarel embrace outside their home in Progreso, Argentina, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The French civil aviation authority says the 28-year-old Argentine striker was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey on Monday. "I don't know what to think. ... The hours pass and I am just beginning to think the worst," Sala told media gathered outside the family home. (AP Photo/Mauricio Garin)

CAPTION CORRECTS THE YEAR Supporters of FC Nantes gather to pay tribute to Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Soccer Football - Cardiff City Press Conference - Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Britain - January 22, 2019 General view of tributes left outside the stadium for Emiliano Sala REUTERS/Rebecca Naden

epa07309900 People hold a vigil for missing former Nantes player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, France, 22 January 2019. Reports on 22 January 2019 state that Argentinian English Premier League Cardiff City soccer player Emiliano Sala is missing after a light aicraft he was travelling in from Nantes in France to Cardiff disapeared over the English Channel. Sala had recently signed for Cardiff City from French club Nantes. The Piper Malibu lost contact off Alderney in the Channel Islands on the evening of 21 January 2019. EPA-EFE/EDDY LEMAISTRE

Emiliano Sala plane missing: Gary Lineker criticises Cristiano Ronaldo for private jet selfie – ‘not the day for this, it really isn’t’

Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a selfie on his private plane. Photo: Twitter

Picture released by Cardiff City FC via Noticias Argentinas, showing Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala posing with Cardiff's jersey after signing for the club, in Cardiff, on January 20, 2019. - Premier League club Cardiff City's record new signing, Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, is missing presumed dead after a light aircraft he was travelling in disappeared over the English Channel on January 21, 2019. Police on the British island of Guernsey have suspended their search for the evening on January 22. Sala was heading to the Welsh capital after saying his final goodbyes to former teammates at French Ligue 1 Nantes. (Photo by HO / NOTICIAS ARGENTINAS / AFP) / - Argentina OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / CCFC / NA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Supporters gather to pay tribute to Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Plane carrying new Cardiff City signing Emiliano Sala missing over English Channel

Emiliano Sala in action of Nantes in March, 2017. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 25, 2017 shows Nantes' Argentinian Italian forward Emiliano Sala during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais (Stade Resnais FC) and Nantes (FC Nantes) at The Roazhon Park in Rennes. - Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala was on board of a missing plane that vanished from radar off Alderney in the Channel Islands according to French police sources on January 22, 2019. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)

Sport

Football

Argentine told friends he was concerned about plane making ‘weird noises’ on his way to new club Cardiff
Record signing is missing and presumed dead as search continues after flight went off radar over English Channel


Argentine concerned about aircraft making ‘weird noises’ on way to new club Cardiff, and is missing and presumed dead as search continues after flight went off radar over English Channel.


Aviation