Cardiff's new £15m striker was saying goodbye to his former team-mates just yesterday
EMILIANO SALA was hailed as a "polite, kind and adorable boy" in a touching tribute by the Nantes president amid fears the striker has been killed after his plane vanished over the Channel Islands.
A search mission is underway for Cardiff's new record £15million signing following police confirmation the aircraft he was in had gone missing.
Sala, 28, was in Nantes just yesterday saying goodbye to his former team-mates.
The Ligue 1 side's president Waldemar Kita, 65, has spoken of the impact Sala had on all at the club - while expressing hope he can still be found.
He told CNEWS: "I think that he came back because he wanted to say goodbye to his friends.
"He was a polite, kind and adorable boy, loved by everyone.
"He was very respectful, very courteous. I am thinking about his family and all his friends. For the rest, we don't know yet.
"I am still hoping that it is not finished, that he is somewhere, that he will be there.
"I have just found out about this like you have. I was not even aware that he was at Nantes. He is no longer owned by Nantes, he does what he wants.
"And I say that because I am still hopeful that we will find him."
Sala was on board the Piper Malibu private plane with one other person, when it lost contact at 8.30pm near the Casquets lighthouse, off Alderney.
Air Traffic Control confirmed the plane was travelling from Nantes in Western France to Cardiff when it vanished.
It followed severe weather warnings about snow and ice issued across France.
