Mesut Ozil, Diego Maradona, Others Pay Emiliano Sala Tribute

Mesut Ozil, Diego Maradona and Sergio Aguero were among a host of others that paid tribute to Emiliano Sala on Thursday following the recovery of the Argentine's body.from a plane's wreckage in the English Channel.

An aircraft flown by David Ibbotson on the 21st day of January was the one conveying Sala to England after he signed for Cardiff City but as fate will have it, the plane went missing with no one having a clue of its whereabouts and that of the passengers on board.

An initial search was futile but after encouraging calls plus donations from some notable names, the quest was resumed earlier this week. The damaged plane was spotted and by Wednesday, a body which was on Thursday night confirmed to be that of the footballer was found.

This stirred grief in the hearts of many who later took to social media platforms to pay respect to the record £15 million acquisition from FC Nantes in France.

The accident occurred two days after the 28-year-old signed for Cardiff meaning he never played any game for them before his demise. Reacting to the event, the club released a statement aimed at paying condolence to Sala and the missing pilot.

"We offer our most heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Emiliano.

"He and David will forever remain in our thoughts."

Ozil joined the trend with a tweet via his official Twitter handle. The ex-German international who is currently struggling to get a place at Arsenal posted: "No words to describe how sad this is. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and also to the family of the pilot. #RIPsala".

No words to describe how sad this is. 😪 Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and also to the family of the pilot. ❤🙏🏼 #RIPsala pic.twitter.com/Uirj6etfZk

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) February 7, 2019

Maradona, one of those that implored authorities involved in the hunt for the missing ones not to give up, was not left out of it. The football legend paid tribute to his fellow compatriot on Instagram. He wrote: "I send a big hug to your family and friends".

Kun Aguero, the hattrick scorer against Arsenal last Sunday tweeted:"Rest in peace, Emiliano. My condolences to his friends and family #PrayForSala".

Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona, Independiente (the Argentine club Sala supported), Argentina's president Mauricio Macri and several Cardiff City players also dropped words for the departed.

The 60-year-old pilot, David Ibbotson, has still not been found. Our thoughts go with both families and we pray that whoever they believe in give them the fortitude to bear the losses.