Emiliano Sala in profile: Argentine, 28, was backed to fire Cardiff to safety

Fears continue to grow for Cardiff's newly signed club-record striker Emiliano Sala as the light aircraft he boarded to fly back to Wales has gone missing.

Premier League side Cardiff splashed out £15million on the 28-year-old forward as they look to stave off relegation to the second tier.

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at his career to date.

Cardiff have been keeping close tabs on Sala throughout the current campaign and this season's record of 12 goals in 19 Ligue 1 games has made the Bluebirds spend big money on the Argentine.

Manager Neil Warnock personally went to watch Sala in action on December 5 and saw the Premier League new boy score in the 30th minute.

Warnock was clearly impressed by the striker's attributes as he convinced his board to sanction a club record move when the January transfer window opened.

Cardiff were not the only Premier League club tracking Sala as Leicester, Burnley, West Ham and Everton all expressed an interest in the highly coveted marksman.

The Premier League strugglers signed Sala on a three-and-a-half year contact on Saturday.

Before agreeing to move to Wales, Sala had played his whole professional career in France.

He started his career at Bordeaux where he progressed through the ranks after originally joining their youth team in 2010.

Sala enjoyed loan spells at Orleans, Niort and Caen during his time on Bordeaux's books before joining Nantes in 2015 for less than £1million.

He has gone from strength to strength since signing for Nantes with the Argentine scoring 42 goals in 117 league games during his four-year spell at the Ligue 1 club.

After finalising his move to Cardiff, Sala returned to his former club to say goodbye to his Nantes team-mates.

Sala's last Instagram post is a picture of himself posing with his former colleagues.

Cardiff released an image of Sala posing with chief executive Ken Choo on Saturday as the Argentine was given a private tour of their facilities.

Choo said of signing Sala: 'It's obviously been a long process to secure the services of Emiliano but I'm very pleased that we're now in a position whereby we can confirm his signature.

'We see Emiliano as a significant acquisition and welcome him wholeheartedly to the capital city of Wales.'

Sala said he couldn't wait to start his career in the Premier League following his move to South Wales.

'I'm very happy to be here,' Sala told Cardiff's official website.

'It gives me great pleasure and I can't wait to start training, meet my new team-mates and get down to work.

'For me it feels special [to be the club's record signing]. I have come here wanting to work and to help my team-mates and the club.

'I can't wait to get to work straight away and do everything I can.'