CARDIFF City tried to take out a £20 million insurance policy on star striker Emiliano Sala the day after he was killed in a plane crash in the English Channel, according to papers filed to the High Court.

A company of insurance brokers say Cardiff City failed to get cover for the tragic record signing before his plane went down as he flew to Wales from France.

Club bosses at Cardiff City are seeking damages of more than £10 million from insurance brokers over the death of the star striker on the flight from France.

Argentine striker Sala, 28, died in a doomed private flight from Nantes as he travelled to take up his new role with the club then in the Premier League.

But the club have been unable to claim back the money paid for Sala after insurers refused to pay out.

Cardiff City FC is suing insurance broker Miller Insurance LLP claiming it owes more than £10 million in a High Court bid.

The club says the firm failed to say players would not be covered if they were not "timely informed" of new signings such as their new star striker.

But lawyers representing the brokers say it was not up to them to "chase" club bosses over making sure new signings were insured and that City were "fully aware" Sala was not insured.

Alistair Schaff KC told the High Court that Cardiff City contacted insurers regarding Sala on January 22, 2019, the morning after his flight went missing off the coast of Alderney.

Mr Schaff said the club made contact via email seeking £20 million coverage for Sala - and the company denies owing the club anything.

Cardiff City claim says Miller Insurance failed to properly explain the concept of an "insurable interest" for football player transfers and the requirement of a "prompt" notification of the transfer in order to secure coverage.

It says broker also did not let the club know about the risks of "delaying this notification of an interest or the steps that might be taken to reduce or eliminate the risks."

But Miller insisted it was not their responsibility to chase the club to ensure that it added new players to its policy "immediately".

It claimed the broker had warned Cardiff City Football Club several times that there would be a gap in a player's insurance cover between acquiring an "insurable interest" in a new player and informing the insurer.

Business flight organiser David Henderson, 67, hired unqualified pilot David Ibbotson to fly the plane from Nantes to Cardiff airport. Both the pilot and Sala died on the flight.

Sala’s body was recovered in a private salvage operation to find the Piper Malibu N264DB. Mr Ibbotson's body was never found in the sunken wreckage.

The legal battle filed in papers to the High Court comes after Henderson was sentenced to 18 months behind bars last year for his role in the tragedy.

Lawyers for Cardiff City said that Miller's defense is being "evaluated, but doesn't seem to contain any surprises." The club represented by David Phillips KC added that it expects to file a reply "soon" to the High Court in London.