Barcelona at the centre of Italian investigation over infamous Pjanic-Arthur swap deal | OneFootball

Barcelona once again find themselves in the wrong kinds of headlines.

It has been a turbulent time for Barca both on and off the pitch in recent months amid financial turmoil and the departure of Lionel Messi.

And so what they didn’t need was to find themselves at the centre of an Italian investigation.

But that seems to be the case, with Gazzetta dello Sport via Sport claiming the Prosecutor’s Office of the Italian Football Federation are looking into the much-maligned swap deal involving Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic.

The deal took place in 2020 and it saw Arthur head to Juventus on a deal worth €72 million, plus €10 million in variables.

Meanwhile, Pjanic joined Barca on a deal believed to be worth €60 million, plus a maximum of €5 million in variables.

The deal was infamous at the time and it’s still looked upon in the same way now.

That’s because neither of those players were worth that amount of money, and it always looked like an accounting trick from both clubs.

The proof came when Pjanic barely played for Barca, making only 19 league appearances before being sent to Turkey this summer.

And now the Italian bodies are looking into the transfer as part of 62 transfers that are suspected of including illegal gains.

For now, Barcelona will have to sit tight, but they will be doing do with more than a few nerves.