Footballer Emiliano Sala is being laid to rest in his home town in Argentina today.

The 28-year-old died in a private plane crash over the English Channel last month as he was on his way to join new club, Cardiff City.

It happened just days after he completed his club record club record £15m (€17.2m) move from French club Nantes.

His body has arrived back in his home country and his funeral service in the town of Progreso in the province of Santa Fé.

The footballer's relatives wept as his body arrived in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires on Friday.

Mirta Taffarel, aunt of Emiliano Sala, cries while waiting for the return of his remains outside a funeral home in Santa Fe, Argentina, 15-02-2019. Image: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Funeral

His wake got underway at 10am Irish time, with Cardiff manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo expected to attend the funeral at 5pm.

The Argentine striker was travelling in the private plane with pilot David Ibbotson when it crashed in the English Channel near Alderney on January 21st.

Sala's body was recovered from the wreckage on February 7th but Mr Ibbotson remains missing.

Funds are being raised to continue the search for the 59-year-old from Lincolnshire.

A postmortem examination confirmed Sala had died from "head and trunk injuries," Dorset Coroner's Court heard.

Sala

Nantes, for whom Sala scored 42 goals in 120 league appearances, will be represented at his funeral by defender Nicolas Pallois and general secretary Loic Morin.

Sala's boyhood club, San Martin de Progreso, posted an emotional tribute on Facebook earlier this week, saying: "We are waiting for you... like the first day you left but this time to stay with us forever.

"You went and you are an example for everyone. Eternally in our hearts."