Cardiff City will tell Fifa the deal they struck to buy Emiliano Sala became “null and void” after he died when the club responds to a complaint over their refusal to pay Nantes his £15 million transfer fee.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal details of the case Cardiff plan to submit to football’s world governing body to explain their withholding of the first instalment of that fee amid a row over who owned Sala when he was tragically killed in a plane crash two months ago.

Their response, which they were given until next Wednesday to provide, will include the refusal of the Premier League to allow the striker to play in the competition over what can now be disclosed was a signing-on fee that was non-compliant with its rules.

It will also include what Cardiff will argue is the non-fulfilment of legally-binding clauses in the transfer agreement they struck with Nantes for the player.

As revealed by this newspaper last month, Sala signed a contract with Cardiff that was rejected by the Premier League only for him to be killed before a revised one could be signed.