Who’s Emiliano Sala? Cardiff City New Striker Who’s Presumed Dead After Suspected Plane Crash — Here Are 5 Things You Don’t Know About Missing Emiliano Sala

Cardiff City’s record new signing Emiliano Sala was on board a plane that went missing over the English Channel. The club’s CEO says they “still continue to pray” for the player.

Latest here as police have suspended the search: https://t.co/5OB7tLHPYY pic.twitter.com/eP9HnFFjpX

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 22, 2019

Who’s Emiliano Sala? Cardiff City New Striker Who’s Presumed Dead After Suspected Plane Crash — Here Are 5 Things You Don’t Know About Missing Emiliano Sala

1. He had just been traded to a new soccer club before the plane went missing. Emiliano was part of a huge trade on Jan. 19, when he was traded from the Nantes club in France to Cardiff City. The trade was reportedly for $19.3 million, and Emiliano was traveling from France to his new home when the plane went missing. Before taking off, Emiliano spent one last day with his Nantes team members, and even posted a photo to social media on Jan. 21 with the caption, “the last one, goodbye.”

Who’s Emiliano Sala? Cardiff City New Striker Who’s Presumed Dead After Suspected Plane Crash — Here Are 5 Things You Don’t Know About Missing Emiliano Sala

2. How did he get involved in soccer? Emiliano began playing soccer in Argentina, and at just 15 years old, he moved to Cordoba to play at a school called Proyecto Crecer. He then moved to Europe when he was 20 to sign for the French partner of that club, and initially struggled to get his career to kick off. He eventually signed with Bordeaux, a professional football club in France, and made his senior competitive debut in 2012. He signed his five-year contract with Nantes in July 2015.

3. He’s a high goal scorer. During his time with the Nantes club, Emiliano scored 42 goals. This season alone, he scored 12 goals, and played in 19 games for the club.

4. He was signed for a record fee. Cardiff City paid a club record fee to sign Emiliano, and the team has obviously been left devastated by the news that he is missing. “We are very concerned by the latest news that a light aircraft lost contact over the Channel last night,” the team said in a statement. “We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala.”

5. A massive search effort has begun for the plane. Officials are currently embarking on a 1,000 square mile search effort to find the plane and its passengers. The rescue mission involves five aircrafts and two lifeboats. Things were briefly suspended on the morning of Jan. 22 due to severe weather, but eventually resumed.