Cardiff City’s record £15 million signing Emiliano Sala is missing and presumed dead after his private plane went off radar on Monday night at 8.23pm.

The Piper PA-46 Malibu plane had taken off from Nantes Atlantique airport around an hour earlier and disappeared north of Guernsey as it made its way to Cardiff.

An audio message said to be from Emiliano Sala has been released where he appears to refer to how his aircraft “seems to be falling apart”.

The plane which new Cardiff City signing Sala and a pilot were travelling disappeared on Monday near the Channel Islands after taking off from Nantes and heading for Cardiff.

Sala had been in Nantes saying farewell to his former club team-mates before making his way back to the Welsh capital, where he was due to train with the Bluebirds on Tuesday morning.

But the light aircraft disappeared from radar around the Channel Islands after requesting to descend.

Guernsey Police confirmed on Tuesday that floating objects in the water had been found, but they could not be verified as pieces of the aircraft. They said there had been no sign of those on board so far, with the search operation set to resume on Wednesday morning.

Now, Argentinian sports media outlet Olé, based in Buenos Aires, carried audio of what is reported to be Sala’s conversation.