Sala felt pressured over record transfer, mother tells inquest

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

The Argentina-born striker was joining then Premier League club Cardiff City in a £15m transfer 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 21 January 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.

"Emi's transfer was the most expensive in history of the club and that also helped to push forward his transfer, even though the team coach didn't want him to leave the club.

"Those weeks December 2018 to January 2019 seemed very intense.

"Cardiff put on a lot of pressure on him to complete the sale