Barcelona were 'conned out of €1 million' from the transfer of Robert Lewandowski by a fake agent.
Lewandowski ended his illustrious spell with Bayern Munich by joining Barca in a deal worth £42.6 million.
And the transaction nearly cost the Catalan giants €1 million as the club were almost duped by a fake agent.
According to Cadena SER, a fraudster pretending to be the star forward's agent, Pini Zahavi, requested Barca pay him €1 million in commissions.
Barca obliged and deposited €1 million in a Cypriot bank account.
Advert
A few days after the bank transfer, the Compliance department of the bank informed the La Liga side of the unusual activity of the movement.
Suspicions arose when the account never had a prior banking history - it was opened earlier in the month.
They raised the issue to Zahavi, who explained that it was not him asking for the hefty fee.
The bank were then able to intercept the transfer, with Barca getting the money back into their account.
Advert
While Barca retrieved the money, it does raise questions about the club's due diligence, and it doesn't paint a good picture considering their financial issues.
Lewandowski, 36, has enjoyed a prolific spell at Barca since sealing his switch in the summer of 2022.
He scored 33 goals across all competitions in his debut campaign before bagging 26 goals in all competitions in the 2023/24 term.
Advert
This season, he already has 12 goals to his name, including 10 league goals, making him the league's top scorer.
SPORTbible have contacted Barcelona for comment.
Topics: Barcelona, Robert Lewandowski, Football
Nasir Jabbar