Emiliano Sala complained about a plane that looked like it was "about to fall apart" in a chilling final message before his disappearance.

The Cardiff City striker, signed for a club record £15million fee from Nantes, was confirmed dead on Thursday after his body was formally identified by coroners.

Sala was travelling on a light aircraft from France to the Welsh capital when it went missing over the English Channel.

Argentinian media outlet Ole have released haunting verified audio sent from Sala to close friends on WhatsApp in the final moments before the plane vanished.

(Image: Cardiff city FC/Twitter)

Sala says: “Hello, little brothers, how are you crazy people?

"Brother, I’m dead, I was here in Nantes doing things, things, things, things and things, and it never stops, it never stops, it never stops.

"I’m here on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’m going to Cardiff, crazy, tomorrow we already start, and in the afternoon we start training, boys, in my new team…

"Let’s see what happens, so, how are you brothers and sisters, all right?

"If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don’t know if they are going to send someone to look for me because they cannot find me, but you know … Dad, how scared am I!”

Reports suggest Sala had expressed concern about the flight having travelled from Cardiff back to France in the same plane over the weekend.

He texted friends once on board to say the plane was making "weird noises" before the plane was reported as missing at around 8:30pm on Monday night.

The light aircraft had been flying at 5000ft but requested to land while passing Guernsey, with the a single-engine plane last detected at 2300 feet when they lost contact with Jersey air traffic controllers.