Missing Premier League footballer sent a chilling message to his friends saying they 'may need to send someone to find me' just before his private plane vanished.
In the recording sent on Monday night, the 28-year-old striker told loved ones in Spanish how he was 'scared' on board the 'plane that seems like it is falling to pieces'.
The star's father today broke down upon hearing the message but is still desperately clinging to the hope that his son will be found alive.
Emiliano Sala (right) with his brother Dario Sala (left), sister Romina Sala (second right) and mother Mercedes Taffarel
The striker's father Horacio Sala, pictured here in an interview outside his home, broke down upon hearing the news. He told Argentinian news channel C5N he felt "desperate" since learning his son's plane was missing
Before the 'bumpy' flight began the pilot needed up to four attempts to take-off from Nantes in Brittany at 7.15pm as he prepared to start his new life in Cardiff after a £15million transfer.
Cardiff City: Sala booked his own flight - not us
Missing soccer star Emiliano Sala booked his own 'risky' private flight across the English Channel after turning down a commercial flight from Cardiff City, it was revealed today.
The £15million player was offered a flight from bosses at new club Cardiff City but wanted to make his own travel arrangements from his former club in Nantes.
City chairman Mehmet Dalman (pictured) said they were 'still praying' for positive news but are devastated after Sala's plane disappeared on Monday night.
Sala, 28, was due to join his teammates in South Wales yesterday morning for training but never arrived after his 460-mile journey from Nantes to Cardiff Airport.
The plane disappeared over the Channel Islands and search teams have found no sign of a wreckage or survivors.
But Mr Dalman said Sala the flight on the Piper Malibu plane - which experts described as 'risky' - was not booked by the club.
Mr Dalman said: 'We spoke to the player and asked him if he wanted us to make arrangements for his flight which, quite frankly, would have been commercial. He declined and made his own arrangements.
'I can't tell you who arranged the flight because I don't know at this stage - but it certainly wasn't Cardiff City.'
He revealed that Cardiff's hard man manager Neil Warnock was 'in a state of shock' after hearing the news.
In a final WhatsApp audio message sent to his friends, where the sound of the plane's engine is heard in the background, Sala said: 'I was over in Nantes sorting things out.
'I am now aboard a plan that seems like it is falling to pieces. I'm going to Cardiff now, crazy, and tomorrow we get going. I will train with my new team'.
He added: '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 was making a round trip in the same plane and when he arrived in France, he reportedly told ex-teammate Nicolas Pallois - who drove him back to Nantes-Atlantiqe airport - that the trip out 'had been bumpy and he feared his safety for the journey back.'
Cardiff City's chairman Mehmet Dalman has revealed that their new star, just signed for £15million from FC Nantes, turned down a commercial flight from Paris and booked the private plane himself.
Speaking from Argentina yesterday, Sala's father Horacio said he was 'desperate' for news.
He broke down in tears as he described him as a 'small town humble boy', adding: ‘I’m desperate, I hope everything goes well. I cannot believe it.
'I do not know what will happen... I hope that good news will come. He was a lad who always fought for what he had. A small-town boy, a humble lad.’
In an emotional statement the footballer's mother, Mercedes Taffarel, said her son was 'enjoying the best moment of his career so far.'
She told Argentinian broadcaster C5N: ‘We are just here waiting, minute after minute. I spoke to him a few hours before he took off.
‘I don’t know what else to say, I’m so worried. They called me from France to tell me that his plane had gone missing and they were looking for him.
'He was very happy and content with the transfer. He was enjoying the best moment of his career so far.’
Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, and his partner Carina Mercedes Taffarel embrace outside their home in Progreso, Argentina
The Piper Malibu Sala was travelling on lost contact after leaving Nantes, en route to Cardiff
The footballer's mother, Mercedes Taffarel, said her son was 'enjoying the best moment of his career so far.' Sala posted this image of himself with his mother alongside the caption, 'Thank you mum'
Emiliano Sala with his sister Romina Sala, brother Dario Sala, and mother Mercedes Taffarel
The 28-year-old was due to return to Wales in time for training this morning but the Piper Malibu aircraft he was in lost contact near the Casquets lighthouse off Alderney at 8.30pm on Monday.
Guernsey Police said today they are 'prioritising' the theory that the new Cardiff City striker and the pilot made it out of the wreckage found floating in the Channel.
They are also considering three other theories - that the plane was grounded on dry land either in the Channel Islands or France, the pilot and Sala were picked up by a passing ship or are dead in the water.
It came as aviation experts claimed that the Piper Malibu plane that Sala was travelling in had a 'questionable' safety record with 55 fatal crashes including 24 since 2000 - and probably doesn't have a black box recorder.
'The Last Goodbye': Emiliano Sala posted this photograph on Instagram on Monday, bidding farewell to his old teammates at Nantes Football Club, after he signed a record £15 million contract with Cardiff City. It is believed to be the last photo of him
Yellow roses were laid in France - the colour of Nantes' shirt - while flowers were also left in Cardiff, where the star had just signed a deal to play in the Premier League
Sala with his brother and sister. His family remain in Argentina, desperately awaiting updates
Cardiff City chief executive Ken Choo said everyone at the club was 'very distressed' and 'praying for positive news.'
Former pilot Alastair Rosenschein said the plane may have become iced-up in the Arctic blast currently sweeping across northern Europe including the UK and France.
John Fitzgerald, chief officer of the Channel Islands Air Search, said he was not optimistic about finding Sala and the pilot.
He said: 'I don't think the coastguard are either. We just don't know how it disappeared. It just completely vanished. There was no radio conversation'.
Sala had celebrated his 28th birthday in October last year, and posted this photo on Twitter alongside his mother, thanking people for their messages
Sala regularly posts photographs of his family on social media, including this one with his mother (left), which he captioned 'Thank you, mum'. He is pictured with his mother, right, and his electrician brother and sister, who works in a care home
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/emiliano-salas-haunting-last-whatsapp-message-is-revealed-as-his-distraught-parents-cling-to-hope/
News Photo Emiliano Sala's haunting last WhatsApp message is revealed as his distraught parents cling to hope
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