Cardiff City's new signing Emiliano Sala feared on board missing plane

Emiliano Sala, the Argentina striker who was recently signed by Cardiff City from French club Nantes for a record fee, is feared to be on board a single-engine light aircraft that lost radar contact while flying over the English Channel late on Monday evening. 

Though French maritime authorities said that a private plane disappeared near the Channel Islands, they could not confirm whether Cardiff City soccer player Emiliano Sala was on board. 

Guernsey`s coastguard said it received an alert at 20:23 local time from air traffic control that a small aircraft had gone missing approximately 15 miles north of Guernsey.

No trace of the aircraft, carrying Sala from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff, has been found so far.

British and French media reported that the former Nantes striker, who signed for the Welsh club this week in a deal worth about 17 million euros, was on the plane.

The British coastguard said in a statement that it was assisting Guernsey Coastguard with a search for a light aircraft missing off Alderney in the Channel Islands, but that the plane had not yet been found.

Guernsey police said the missing aircraft had been flying from Nantes to Cardiff with two people on board.