Emiliano Sala booked his own flight across The Channel – not Cardiff City – on a model of plane that’s crashed 160 times, it can be revealed.
The £15million forward, 28, was offered a flight from bosses at his new club but wanted to make his own travel arrangements from former club in Nantes.
Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman said they were “still praying” for positive news but are devastated after Sala’s plane disappeared on Monday night.
Sala 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 Dalman said Sala booked the flight on the Piper Malibu plane – which experts described as “risky” – not the club.
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.”
Aviation expert and former pilot Alastair Rosenschein said Sala shouldn’t have been making the journey.
Rosenchein added the Piper Malibu had a terrible track record of crashing – with 160 serious crashes, 55 of which were fatal.