Cardiff City’s club-record signing Emiliano Sala is feared dead after the plane he was travelling in to Wales went missing over the English Channel on Monday night, with searches to locate the striker and the aircraft’s pilot called off on Tuesday evening.

Guernsey Police confirmed that French and British maritime authorities had called off their rescue attempts at sunset on Tuesday after searching more than 11,500sq miles of water around the Channel Islands of Alderney and Guernsey.

The Piper PA-46 Malibu single-propeller aircraft disappeared off radar at around 8:20pm on Monday night, with Jersey Air Traffic Control sending an alert to Guernsey Coastguard who immediately dispatched a lifeboat. Since then, police said there has been no sign of either Argentine footballer Sala or the aircraft’s pilot, who the French civil aviation authority confirmed were the only two people on board.

“During the course of the 15-hour search, which used multiple air and sea assets from the Channel Islands, UK and France, a number of floating objects have been seen in the water. We have been unable to confirm whether any of these are from the missing aircraft.

“We have found no signs of those on board. If they did land on the water, the chances of survival are at this stage, unfortunately, slim. Two planes and a lifeboat are still searching.”

Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala is missing and feared dead after an aeroplane carrying him and one other person went missing over the English Channel AFP/Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala He first moved to France in 2011 before joining Bordeaux and making his debut in 2012 Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Sala arrived at Bordeaux after playing for Club Proyecto Crecer in Argentina Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala In Ligue 1, Sala found himself going up against some of the best-known defenders such as PSG’s David Luiz Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala He would join Caen on loan in 2015 Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala While with Bordeaux, Sala also spent time on loan with US Orleans and Chamois Niort Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala In 2015, Sala secured a move to Ligue 1 side Nantes EPA Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Sala played 130 times for Nantes, scoring 48 goals in all competitions AFP/Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala His form in France saw him catch the eye of a number of clubs around Europe AFP Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Sala was the fifth-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 this season with 12 goals in 19 games Getty Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Sala agreed to join Cardiff in a club-record £15m deal on Saturday 19 January Cardiff City Emiliano Sala: Career in pictures Emiliano Sala Sala’s flight to Cardiff went missing on Monday 21 January and is believed to have crashed into the English Channel Getty

Tuesday due to the dangerously cold temperatures that they would have experienced upon a crash-landing in the water, and chief executive of the Channel Islands Air Search, John Fitzgerald suggested that the search was no longer a rescue mission.

“We are not expecting anyone to be alive,” said Fitzgerald. “I don’t think the coastguard are either. We just don’t know how it disappeared.”

Fitzgerald added that the plane “just completely vanished. There was no radio conversation.”