Cardiff City are reportedly contemplating whether to launch a negligence claim over the tragic Emiliano Sala plane disaster.
The Bluebirds' club-record move for the Argentine striker was rubber-stamped just hours before the plane transporting him to the Welsh capital went missing.
The search operation for Sala was called off by rescue workers on Thursday, all but ending the slim hopes of finding the player - and pilot Dave Ibbotson - alive.
Cardiff are believed to have paid Nantes £5m upfront for Sala and agreed to a commitment of two further £5m instalments, taking the total fee up to £15m.
However, The Telegraph suggests that Cardiff are considering legal action to recoup that money as there are questions over why their marquee signing was travelling in a single-engined plane, which was built in 1984 and was being piloted by a part-time gas engineer.
A club source is quoted by the publication as saying: "Cardiff has made its position very clear that it had nothing to do with the arrangements of the flight.
"Now new information is coming in every day as we are continuing to investigate the chain of events and the cause of the accident. We are looking at the potential possibility of negligence that may have caused the accident."
Accident insurance is only likely to cover half of City's financial loss, which includes £30m to cover the three-and-a-half-year contract awarded to Sala and £2.5m in agent fees.
Daniel Lewis
