Cardiff City FC have filed a new lawsuit in the French court of Nantes seeking more than 120 million euros from FC Nantes for the death of Argentine striker Emiliano Sala in January 2019, claiming that the 28-year-old's untimely death directly influenced their relegation.

Emiliano Sala: body recovered from plane is missing footballer
Fellow players pay tribute to Argentinian after Dorset police confirm identity of body
The GuardianKevin Rawlinson

The player was preparing to join the Welsh club in the winter market before his unexpected death in a tragic plane crash sparked a battle between the two clubs which, according to French newspaper L'Équipe, continues to this day.

Cardiff now claim that their relegation to the English second tier that year was partly due to the goals - or lack of them - that Sala scored that year. Artificial Intelligence (AI) concluded this.

Based on an analysis by Analytics FC, a company that used AI to calculate the goals that the late player would have scored for the Gauls, Cardiff is demanding a whopping compensation of more than 120 million from the French club.

According to the company, the club that would have been Sala's next home would have had a 54.2% chance of staying in the Premier League in the 2018/19 season if Sala had been able to contribute his goals that year - an assessment boosted by the fact that the Argentine was the 3rd top scorer in the French league at the time of his death.

A financial expert calculated the losses of the relegation on the basis of this analysis and concluded that the team lost around 120 million euros.

Nantes has already responded to the lawsuit with... another lawsuit, for moral damages, demanding that the Welshmen be fined.

From disaster to financial battle

Emiliano Sala died while flying between France and Wales in an unlicensed plane that crashed in the English Channel.

Sala plane not licensed for commercial use
A report into the air crash which killed Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala has found the aircraft was not registered for commercial use.
ESPNESPN

The message he left before his death, published by the Argentine sports newspaper Olé, went viral and broke the hearts of fans.

"Hi guys, how are you? I'm dead tired. I've been here in Nantes doing things, things and more things... and it never ends. I'm up here in the plane that looks like it's falling apart," the message reads.

"If you don't hear from me in an hour and a half, I don't know if they'll send someone to look for me because they can't find me, but you know... I'm so scared," the player concluded.

After the Argentine's death, the two clubs failed to reach an agreement to resolve the problem of paying for his transfer, as the English club refused to pay the 17 million euros that had been agreed for the transfer.

FIFA later ruled that Cardiff should pay the full amount agreed for the player's transfer.
The winger, who had a brief spell in Portuguese soccer with FC Crato in Portalegre in 2009/10 - where he scored two goals in just one game - scored 110 goals in 282 games during his career.