Report: Nantes threaten Cardiff City with legal action over Sala fee

Nantes are reportedly demanding that Cardiff City pay them for the £15-million transfer of Emiliano Sala and have threatened to pursue legal action if a payment isn't received within 10 days, according to BBC Wales.

A source at the Premier League club said Cardiff City will honor their agreement, but the Welsh side is awaiting "all the facts" surrounding Sala's disappearance before issuing the first payment. The transfer fee is reportedly scheduled to be paid in installments over three years.

Nantes emailed Cardiff a legal letter Tuesday formally appealing for payment, their second such request in the past week, according to Tom Morgan and Harry Harris of The Telegraph. The capital club is said to have frozen all disbursements while officials investigate Sala's disappearance.

Sala signed with Cardiff on Jan. 19 for an undisclosed club-record fee, reported to be £15 million. After flying to Wales to sign his contract, the forward asked to return to France to say goodbye to his former teammates. On his return to Cardiff, however, the plane carrying him and pilot David Ibbotson disappeared from radar near the island of Guernsey on Jan. 21.

A private underwater search found wreckage from the aircraft on the English Channel seabed Sunday, and authorities have launched an operation to recover a body from the scene.