Scottish football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight to take Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff but had no involvement in selecting the plane or pilot.
Guernsey Police have called off the search for Cardiff’s new £15million signing Sala and pilot David Ibbotson after their plane disappeared over the English Channel on Monday evening.
McKay’s son, Mark, was the acting agent for Nantes in a move which made 28-year-old Sala a club-record transfer for Cardiff.
His other son, Jack, who plays for the Bluebirds, exchanged a series of text messages with Sala, suggesting a private flight from Cardiff to Nantes, and then back to south Wales two days later.
The Monaco-based Willie McKay is one of the most successful agents in the game, brokering huge contracts over the years and pulling the strings to secure some of the biggest transfers in history.
In his career he has been involved in 485 deals, ranging from Ronaldinho’s move from Paris Saint-Germain to Barcelona to acting for Queens Park Rangers during negotiations to sign Joey Barton on a free transfer.
He has represented Joey Barton, Charles N’Zogbia, Ross McCormack, Pascal Chimbonda and Amdy Faye, among others.
His twin sons Paul and Jack have gone on to become footballers while his other son Mark followed his career path to become a football agent.
McKay, who was born in Scotland, was one of five men arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting in November 2007 as part of the City of London Police football corruption probe before he was cleared of any wrongdoing 18 months later.
In December 2008, he was given a suspended ban by the FA for breaching regulations by acting for two different clubs in two consecutive transfers of Portsmouth and Manchester City striker Benjani.
His footballing twins Jack and Paul McKay, 22, have been on the books of Doncaster Rovers, Leeds United and Cardiff City.
The brothers began their football education in France and had offers to go to other academies but settled at hometown club Doncaster when they were 16 years old.
Jack is a striker who has spent time out on loan with the Scottish League One outfit, while Paul plays at centre-back.
In 2016, Leeds United signed the twins, then aged 19, for undisclosed fees on two-and-a-half-year deals from Doncaster Rovers.
In mid-January last year they joined Cardiff City after a short trial with the Bluebirds’ Under-23s. Earlier this month it was announced Paul McKay was joining Morecambe on loan.
McKay’s other son Mark followed in his father’s footsteps and also works as a football agent, helping West Ham sign Dimitri Payet from Marseille in a £10.7million move in 2015.
He also represents Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Mark was the director of the Glasgow-based company Excelfoot Ltd, which went into liquidation in 2017.