English premier League side Cardiff City are set for a legal battle with Nantes over the £15million Emiliano Sala transfer fee.

Brila.net understands the French club have demanded the first £5m down payment of the fee, which had been overdue.

One letter from Nantes is thought to have been sent to the Bluebirds on Friday, with another arriving on Wednesday.

However, Cardiff are withholding any money until they have more facts about what happened to Sala, who with pilot David Ibbotson was on board the Piper Malibu which crashed into the English channel.

The official search for Sala had been called off last week by Guernsey Police. A private search subsequently took place and on Monday wreckage of the light aircraft was discovered with a body inside.