Emiliano Sala sent haunting voice messages to friends shortly before his plane was lost over the English Channel.
Cardiff City’s record £15million signing is missing presumed dead after his flight went off radar, north of Alderney at Les Casquets at 8.23pm on Monday, just an hour after taking off from Nantes Atlantique airport.
The single engine Piper PA-46 Malibu plane was bound for Cardiff. On Tuesday night Argentinian website Ole.com posted the audio messages which it claimed were sent to a WhatsApp group of fellow players and friends.
He says: ‘Hello, little brothers, how are you crazy people? 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.’
He later sent another message saying: ‘How are you guys, all good? If you do not have any more news from in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they need to send someone to find me... I am getting scared!’
Sala had been dropped at the airport by his friend, Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois, and before boarding the plane had confided that he was concerned about the flight.
The 28-year-old striker had travelled in the same plane from Cardiff back to France on Sunday and complained about that flight being ‘bumpy’.
Once he was on board for the fateful return flight, Sala texted friends to say the plane was making ‘weird noises’.
Unconfirmed reports say the plane had difficulty taking off and took ‘three or four’ attempts before flying at 7.15pm.
The journey should take about 1hr 20min and, as Cardiff became concerned about the plane’s late arrival, manager Neil Warnock contacted Sala’s representatives, who tried to alert the player’s family.
His father Horacio, mother Mercedes and his sister were last night travelling from Rosario, Argentina to Paris.
‘I’m desperate,’ Horacio told Argentinian TV. ‘I do not know what will happen ... I hope that good news will come.
‘His transfer to Cardiff was a big step. He is a boy who has always fought hard. A humble boy. It still feels inexplicable. His whole future ahead of him, all those dreams he had.’
At Nantes’ training ground, stunned players, staff and fans cried as news came through.
Sala had held a farewell lunch with his team-mates on Monday.
He posed for pictures before posting on Instagram with the prophetic caption ‘la ultima ciao’ — ‘the last goodbye’.
Supporters of the French club took to the city centre’s La Place Royale to place yellow tulips, symbolic of Nantes’ colours, at the foot of the fountain, clinging to a hope their former idol will be found.
However, as light faded, the 15-hour search that had covered over 1,155 square miles, was suspended at 5pm to be resumed this morning.
Guernsey police said floating objects had been found on the water but were unable to confirm if they were from the aircraft.
‘We have found no signs of those on board,’ they tweeted. ‘If they did land on the water, the chances of survival are at this stage, unfortunately, slim.’
Nantes manager Vahid Halilhodzic added: 'I am aghast. We are waiting but we are not allowing ourselves to dream. We are awaiting the worst.'
Cardiff, who cancelled training on Tuesday, said they were 'praying for positive news'.
Sala had scored 13 goals this season and was regarded as one of the form strikers in Europe.
-Dailymail
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