Emiliano Sala felt pressured into making record transfer, mother tells inquest

Emiliano Sala felt pressurised into completing a multimillion-pound transfer to the Premier League shortly before he died in a plane crash as he headed to his new club, an inquest has heard.

The Argentina-born striker was joining then Premier League club Cardiff in a £15million switch from French Ligue 1 side Nantes.

Dorset Coroner’s Court heard that the 28-year-old was on board a private plane flying from Nantes to Cardiff on the evening of January 21 2019 when in crashed in the English Channel, close to Guernsey.

Pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was also killed but his body has never been found.

On the first day of the inquest into the footballer’s death, his mother, Mercedes Taffarel, told the court her son’s dream since childhood in Argentina had been to be a professional footballer.

In a written statement, Mrs Taffarel, who referred to her son as Emi, said his goal-scoring exploits in France had led to calls for him to be called up to Argentina’s national team.

“He appreciated the Nantes club and the fans very much,” she said. “An offer came in from Cardiff City in December 2018.

“It is true to say that Emi was very happy when he eventually accepted the idea of the move as he had the chance to play in the Premier League.

“He felt it was the right time to move clubs and to another league.

“It seemed to him that the Nantes management was also pushing his exit from the club because they were going through some financial problems.

Cardiff put on a lot of pressure on him to complete the sale quickly, but Nantes asked for more money and Emi felt in the middle of the dispute.- Emiliano Sala's mother, Mercedes Taffarel

“Emi’s transfer was the most expensive in history of the club and that also helped to push forward his transfer,