A Cardiff City player has today released text messages between him and Emiliano Sala which show how the £15 million player's doomed flight was arranged.
Jack McKay, whose father is football agent Willie McKay, told Sala that he would be able to get him on the flight for free if 'you help me score goals'.
Willie McKay admitted today that he booked the flight with David Henderson 'who has flown us and many of our players all over Europe on countless occasions'.
But he said he had 'no involvement in selecting a plane or a pilot'.
The aircraft was ultimately flown by David Ibbotson who was a part-time DJ and gas engineer and admitted before the flight he was a 'little bit rusty'.
The private flight between Nantes to Cardiff disappeared from radar over the English Channel on its way to Cardiff on Monday night.
Willie's other son, Mark, was the agent acting for Nantes in the £15million transfer that made Sala Cardiff's record signing earlier in January.
In the text exchange released to the BBC by McKay, Jack offers to arrange the private flight for free so Sala could return to Nantes to say goodbye to former team-mates at the Ligue 1 club and to pick up his belongings.
In one message Jack McKay tell Sala his father would be able to arrange the plane for free 'if he helps him to score goals'.
He highlighted that both Mark and Jack had a conversation with Sala about the difficulties of flying to the French city by commercial airline.
He also says a Cardiff player liaison official knew of the arrangements that were made.
McKay also said that he had met with Sala's friends and family to 'give them an understanding of how Emiliano came to be on that plane'.
He added: 'The tragic events that have unfolded have shocked us all.'
According to the BBC, Cardiff has now started an internal inquiry to try to establish the events leading up to the flight, with a senior source having denied reports that the club is considering a multi-million pound negligence lawsuit over the incident.
The source told the BBC that senior club officials only became aware a private flight had been arranged after they were alerted by the club's player liaison officer that Sala had failed to arrive at Cardiff airport as planned on Monday.
The news of the text messages comes as nearly 1,800 people responded to a GoFundMe page which had been launched by Sala's agent, as authorities called off the search for him and his pilot.
The cash appeal was launched by Sport Cover, the name of Emiliano's agent Meissa N'Diaye's Paris-based football agency.
A message on the web fundraiser, which carries the Spanish language hashtag #NoDejenDeBuscar Emiliano Sala and means 'Don't Stop Looking for Emiliano Sala', said: 'This fund was created in response to the urgency of the situation and the authorities' decision not to pursue the search.
'Its sole objective, through a specialized non-profit organization, is to help the family of Emiliano and pilot Dave Ibbotson continue the search.
'Thank you for helping with the amount you want.'
The official search and rescue operation for the Piper PA-46 Malibu taking new Cardiff City signing Sala, 28, from Nantes in France to the Welsh capital was called off on Thursday, three days after the small aircraft went missing over the Channel.
Last night Arsenal and Man United players sported black arm bands and took part in a moment of applause for the footballer whose plane went down on Monday night, hurtling his plane into the English Channel which has been suffering from an arctic blast blown over from Europe.
This is while other footballers from across the world have donated to the cause. French footballer Nordi Mukiele, donated €4,000, while Valencia player Geoffrey Kondogbia, donated €2,000.