Kylian Mbappe donation helps Emiliano Sala's family to resume search as €300,000 target is reached

A GoFundMe page was set up with other players including Adrien Rabiot and Dimitri Payet contributing

Nantes supporters gather in Nantes after it was announced that the plane Argentinian forward Emiliano Sala was flying on vanished. AFP

People hold a vigil for missing former Nantes player Emiliano Sala. EPA

Nantes supporters gather in Nantes. AFP

Nantes supporters gather and light candles over an Argentinian flag. AFP

Nantes fans hold up club scarves during a gathering. AFP

Nantes supporters lay flowers. AFP

The 28-year-old Argentine striker is one of two people still missing after contact was lost with the light aircraft. AFP

Nantes supporters light flares during the gathering. AFP

Nantes supporters lay flowers. AFP

Sala was on his way to the Welsh capital to train with his new teammates for the first time after completing a move to Cardiff City. AFP

A Nantes supporter adds to the collection of flowers. AFP

Club Atletico Social San Martin President Daniel Rivero holds a Nantes team jersey that was given to the club by Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala. AP Photo

A view of the "Club Atletico y Social San Martin" where Emiliano Sala played soccer when he was young, in Progreso, Santa Fe province, Argentina. AFP

A view of the "Club Atletico y Social San Martin" where Emiliano Sala played soccer when he was young, in Progreso, Santa Fe province, Argentina. AFP

Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, stands outside his home in Progreso, Argentina. AP Photo

Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, and his partner Carina Mercedes Taffarel embrace outside their home in Progreso, Argentina. AP Photo

Some of Europe's top footballers including Kylian Mbappe have donated thousands of euros to fund a private search for missing Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala.

An online fund-raising campaign was started at the GoFundMe website with the aim of raising €300,000 (Dh1.26m) to resume the search in the English Channel where the plane Sala was travelling on with pilot Dave Ibbotson disappeared last week.

The fund went past the target today after a donation of €30,010 from Paris Saint Germain star Mbappe.

Financial help had earlier come from the likes of Mbappe's PSG teammate Adrien Rabiot, who donated €25,000, Marseille's Dimitri Payet who donated €10,000, while the FifPro World Players Union put in €5,000.

Other players to contribute include Lucas Ocampos of Marseille (€5,000), Frenchman Nordi Mukiele who is at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga (€4,000), Papu (Alejandro) Gomez of Atalanta (€2,002), Geoffrey Kondogbia of Valencia (€2,000), Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City (€2,000), Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal (€2,000), Corentin Tolisso of Bayern Munich (€1,000), and Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli (€1,000).

More than 3,500 people had donated.

A statement from GoFundMe said the fund "was created in the face of the urgency of the situation and the decision of the authorities not to pursue the search".

It added that the amount the fund was aiming to raise had been increased and that it "hoped to cover the maximum expenses related to our quest" as the costs related to the search were subject to variables  such as duration and weather conditions.

"The family and we would like to thank you again for your exceptional generosity: players, clubs, staff and anonymous. #NoDejenDeBuscar EmilianoSala."

Two boats had resumed the search on Saturday as a result of the fund-raising appeal, according to AFP.

The formal search for the plane went on for three days before being called off on Thursday.

Nantes coach Vahid Halilhodzic labelled the closure of the search "a disgrace" and said the authorities had an obligation to find the footballer and pilot.

Sala, 28, had just completed a club record move to the Premier League club from French side Nantes.

He had returned to his old club to say goodbye to teammates and staff, and was then due to arrive in Cardiff to take part in his first training session.

Fellow Argentines Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero urged aurthorities to continue looking for the plane which was last in contact close to the island of Alderney.

Aguero wrote on Twitter: "We don't want to give up, we want to hold on to hope. That's why I also wish #NoDejenDeBuscar - don't call off the search. From the start, my thoughts have been with Emiliano, his family and friends #PrayForSala."