Emiliano Sala's body to be flown to Argentina before a wake on Saturday

Tragic Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala's body will be repatriated on Friday ahead of a wake in the gym of his boyhood club.

Julio Muller, mayor of the town of Progreso in the Argentinian province of Santa Fe where Emiliano grew up, confirmed his remains would reach Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires around 9am local time on Friday.

The footballer's body will then be taken to the provincial capital by road on a six-hour journey before reaching Progreso on Friday night for the wake on Saturday at the San Martin Club gym.

Mr Muller said Emiliano's mum Mercedes and sister Romina, who travelled to Europe after the light aircraft taking him from France to Cardiff disappeared over the Channel near Guernsey, have already rejoined his lorry driver dad Horacio in Progreso.

Referring to the footballer by his shortened name Emi, he said: 'Emi's remains will reach Progreso, 300 miles north of Buenos Aires, late on Friday.

'The wake will be organised in the gym at San Martin FC.'

San Martin President Daniel Ribero added: 'Emi's body is going to reach Argentina from Europe on Friday and on Saturday we will spend several hours saying farewell to him at the club.'

It emerged earlier this week Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan had told Emiliano's relatives he would pay for the striker to be repatriated.

An inquest at Bournemouth town hall in Dorset heard on Monday the footballer, whose body was recovered in a privately-funded search, died of head and trunk injuries when the plane he was on crashed into the Channel.

The body of the pilot of the single-engine Piper Malibu which disappeared on January 21, 59-year-old David Ibbotson, is yet to be found and his family are insisting the search must go on.

Wife Nora said earlier this week: 'We just know we can't leave him out there on his own until we have tried to do everything we can.'

San Martin de Progreso, where the footballer played until he was 15, has already indicated it intends changing the name of its stadium and calling it Estadio Emiliano Sala.

The Argentinian striker was heading from Nantes, where he spent nearly four years, to Cardiff after the Premier League side signed him for a club-record fee of £15million.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman has said the club would pay the fee if they are 'contractually obliged.'