<p>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.</p>.<p>Sala, signed on Saturday from French club Nantes for a reported fee of 17 million euros ($19.3 million), was flying to Cardiff aboard a small plane that disappeared from radars around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Guernsey on Monday night.</p>.<p>French civil aviation authorities confirmed that 28-year-old Sala "was on board the plane". It is thought there was one other passenger on the aircraft.</p>.<p>A statement from police on Guernsey, a British island just off the coast of France, said the pilot had requested to lower his altitude shortly before air traffic control in neighbouring Jersey lost contact with the plane.</p>.<p>After a search was called off on Monday because of high winds, two helicopters, two planes and a lifeboat joined renewed efforts on Tuesday morning to find the single-propeller plane.</p>.<p>"So far over 1,000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats," Guernsey police said at 1145 GMT.</p>.<p>"There has been no trace of the aircraft. The search is continuing."</p>.<p>Sala's father, Horacio, told Argentine television station C5N he was "distraught" at the news, which he discovered from press reports.</p>.<p>"I don't know anything, I haven't had any information. I can't believe it, it's incredible," he said. "I'm distraught. Hopefully, everything will be OK."</p>.<p>Sala, who had been at Nantes since 2015 and had scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with relegation-threatened Cardiff subject to receiving international clearance.</p>.<p>Neither club has commented publicly on the disappearance, but Nantes have had their French Cup match against third-tier side Entente SSG on Wednesday postponed.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Nantes fan group 'A La Nantaise' released a statement calling for supporters of Sala's former club to gather in the centre of the city for a vigil at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).</p>.<p>When he put pen to paper at Cardiff on Saturday, Sala, who also has Italian nationality, said in a statement: "I'm very happy to be here. It gives me great pleasure and I can't wait to start training, meet my new team-mates and get down to work.</p>.<p>"For me it feels special (to be the club's record signing). I have come here wanting to work and to help my team-mates and the club."</p>.<p>Sala's last post on Instagram showed him surrounded by players from Nantes. "La ultima ciao (the last goodbye)," he wrote.</p>.<p>Cardiff, who currently sit third from bottom of the English Premier League with 19 points, said they were "very concerned".</p>.<p>"We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala," the club said in a statement.</p>.<p>The accident, if confirmed, comes only three months after the Thai billionaire owner of Leicester City football club died in a helicopter crash that shocked the club and supporters around the world.</p>.<p>Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died on October 27 shortly after taking off from the pitch of the club's stadium in central England.</p>.<p>Disconnected cockpit pedals, which are used to control the rotor on the helicopter's tail, were found to be the cause of the accident by investigators.</p>.<p>Sala began his footballing career at French club Bordeaux, who he joined in 2010, and spent loan spells at other French clubs including Orleans, Niort and Caen.</p>.<p>He joined Nantes in 2015 for one million euros and appeared to be peaking as a player in recent seasons, overcoming technical shortcomings that had held him back earlier in his career.</p>.<p>He was tipped for a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray last summer.</p>.<p>"He's a very likeable lad, very hard working," his coach at Nantes, Vahid Halilhodzic, said of Sala recently.</p>
<p>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.</p>.<p>Sala, signed on Saturday from French club Nantes for a reported fee of 17 million euros ($19.3 million), was flying to Cardiff aboard a small plane that disappeared from radars around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Guernsey on Monday night.</p>.<p>French civil aviation authorities confirmed that 28-year-old Sala "was on board the plane". It is thought there was one other passenger on the aircraft.</p>.<p>A statement from police on Guernsey, a British island just off the coast of France, said the pilot had requested to lower his altitude shortly before air traffic control in neighbouring Jersey lost contact with the plane.</p>.<p>After a search was called off on Monday because of high winds, two helicopters, two planes and a lifeboat joined renewed efforts on Tuesday morning to find the single-propeller plane.</p>.<p>"So far over 1,000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats," Guernsey police said at 1145 GMT.</p>.<p>"There has been no trace of the aircraft. The search is continuing."</p>.<p>Sala's father, Horacio, told Argentine television station C5N he was "distraught" at the news, which he discovered from press reports.</p>.<p>"I don't know anything, I haven't had any information. I can't believe it, it's incredible," he said. "I'm distraught. Hopefully, everything will be OK."</p>.<p>Sala, who had been at Nantes since 2015 and had scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with relegation-threatened Cardiff subject to receiving international clearance.</p>.<p>Neither club has commented publicly on the disappearance, but Nantes have had their French Cup match against third-tier side Entente SSG on Wednesday postponed.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Nantes fan group 'A La Nantaise' released a statement calling for supporters of Sala's former club to gather in the centre of the city for a vigil at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT).</p>.<p>When he put pen to paper at Cardiff on Saturday, Sala, who also has Italian nationality, said in a statement: "I'm very happy to be here. It gives me great pleasure and I can't wait to start training, meet my new team-mates and get down to work.</p>.<p>"For me it feels special (to be the club's record signing). I have come here wanting to work and to help my team-mates and the club."</p>.<p>Sala's last post on Instagram showed him surrounded by players from Nantes. "La ultima ciao (the last goodbye)," he wrote.</p>.<p>Cardiff, who currently sit third from bottom of the English Premier League with 19 points, said they were "very concerned".</p>.<p>"We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala," the club said in a statement.</p>.<p>The accident, if confirmed, comes only three months after the Thai billionaire owner of Leicester City football club died in a helicopter crash that shocked the club and supporters around the world.</p>.<p>Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died on October 27 shortly after taking off from the pitch of the club's stadium in central England.</p>.<p>Disconnected cockpit pedals, which are used to control the rotor on the helicopter's tail, were found to be the cause of the accident by investigators.</p>.<p>Sala began his footballing career at French club Bordeaux, who he joined in 2010, and spent loan spells at other French clubs including Orleans, Niort and Caen.</p>.<p>He joined Nantes in 2015 for one million euros and appeared to be peaking as a player in recent seasons, overcoming technical shortcomings that had held him back earlier in his career.</p>.<p>He was tipped for a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray last summer.</p>.<p>"He's a very likeable lad, very hard working," his coach at Nantes, Vahid Halilhodzic, said of Sala recently.</p>