There is “genuine concern” Premier League footballer Emiliano Sala was on a flight which disappeared between France and Cardiff, according to the BBC.
It is feared the Argentine striker was one of two people on board the Piper Malibu, which disappeared off Alderney on Monday night.
Cardiff City, which signed the 28-year-old from French club Nantes on Saturday , said it was “seeking clarification” as to what happened.
A search is under way.
Cardiff Airport confirmed the aircraft was due to arrive from Nantes but a spokeswoman said there were no further details.
HM Coastguard said the disappearance was not in the UK search and rescue area, but it had sent two helicopters to help.
A spokeswoman said they were assisting Guernsey Coastguard with a search for a light aircraft off Alderney: “HM Coastguard helicopters from Solent and Newquay have been helping to search overnight with nothing found.”
The search and rescue operation had to deal with worsening conditions as they scoured the area on Monday night.
The Met Office said at the time the aircraft went missing “there were some showers around, but nothing too intense”.
“Wind speeds were not too bad – average speeds were around 15 to 20mph,” it added.
As the search continued into the evening though, it became wetter and windier.
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Cardiff signed Sala for a club record £15m after protracted negotiations with Nantes.
He has been among the top scorers in France in recent years and had scored 13 league and cup goals this season, third behind Kylian Mbappe and Nicolas Pepe.
When his signing to Cardiff was announced, he said: “It gives me great pleasure and I can’t wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work.”
Club chief executive Ken Choo said: “I’m sure all Cardiff City fans will join me in that and we can look forward to seeing our record signing in a Bluebirds shirt.”
The most recent tweet from Sala’s account was a picture of him and his former team-mates, captioned “ciao”.
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