FC Nantes have demanded payment from Cardiff City for the first instalment of the £15 million transfer of Emiliano Sala, a source has confirmed to ESPN.
The BBC were the first to report the news.
Cardiff plan to honour their financial commitment to the deal but had been withholding the transfer fee until the investigation into the incident had concluded. The club have yet to pay anything to FC Nantes.
Nantes demand that the first instalment be paid within 10 days under the threat of legal action.
Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were on board the Piper Malibu aircraft that went missing over the English Channel on Jan. 21, carrying the player from Nantes to Cardiff ahead of his planned first training session with the team.
Authorities searching for Sala found a body in the wreckage of the plane, air accident investigators confirmed on Monday. However, it is not clear whether the body discovered is Sala's or Ibbotson's.
