‘No chance’ of Sala being found alive

Neil Warnock and his Cardiff City players were described as feeling ‘‘absolutely terrible’’ last night as English Channel rescue teams admitted there was now no chance of finding Emiliano Sala alive.

The squad returned to training in sombre mood after it emerged that the star signing, 28, had expressed fears for his life in messages sent to friends about the single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft, which is believed to have crashed into the sea. A senior club source said: ‘‘Everyone is in bits. Today was very sombre. The manager and players are feeling absolutely terrible.’’

Cardiff sources last night confirmed Sala had made the flight arrangements with the help of Mark McKay, an intermediary in the deal, because the club had only been able to secure him a route back to Cardiff via Paris and Heathrow. It was also claimed yesterday that the pilot, Dave Ibbotson, 60, aborted three take-offs and had joked with friends that he was a ‘‘bit rusty’’ in the days before.

Cardiff officials confirmed Tuesday’s match against Arsenal would go ahead but promised to assist investigations fully.

The forward, who had been in prolific scoring form for Nantes recently, had been a dream signing for Warnock after weeks of talks.

Last night McKay confirmed his involvement in helping Sala book the flight. ‘‘I can confirm that when Emiliano made myself and his agent Meissa N’Diaye aware that he wished to travel back to Nantes following his medical and signing on Friday, I began to look into arranging a private flight to take him to Nantes on Saturday morning,’’ McKay said.