The Blaugrana player allegedly reached an agreement with the Spanish revenue service to pay the debt he acquired in 2011 and 2012.

Argentinean midfielder Javier Mascherano has some explaining to do, after Spanish authorities charged the player with tax fraud. Even though the former Liverpool midfielder had apparently paid his debts with the Spanish revenue service, "El Jefecito" will have to disclose the earnings from his image rights in order to set his financial records straight.

Sources indicate that the player made a payment for €587,822 and €968,907, the total amount of taxes from his image rights, plus a £150,000 interest fee. The player has not made a statement related to the charges.

Mascherano is the third player in Barcelona's roster to be charged with tax evasion recently, with Lionel Messi and Neymar in similar predicaments. Messi and his father were accused of defrauding the Spanish state of more than €4m by filing false returns for the years 2006 to 2009, something they have denied. 

Brazilian wingman Neymar has also been implicated in a tax fraud scheme, following his signing in 2013. Neither Barcelona nor Santos, his former club, revealed the official amount Los Blaugranas paid for the player's rights, which forced Spanish authorities to investigate and eventually charge former president Sandro Rosell with tax evasion charges. Rosell had to step down as Barcelona's boss, leaving Josep Maria Bartomeu as the one in charge.

A Spanish judge will determine in the following weeks if Mascherano's case will be decided in a court of law.