The luxury home in Barcelona of Arsenal football star the Chilean Alexis Sanchez has been seized by Spanish tax authorities that believe he owes them €3,702,540 in unpaid taxes, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported on Friday.

The alleged debts correspond to the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, when Sanchez was playing for Barcelona and before he joined Arsenal in 2014.

He is accused of simulating the sale of his image rights through a shell company named Numidia Trading in Malta.

Numidia Trading is registered at an address in Ta’ Xbiex and, according to company records seen by this newspaper, Sanchez owns 99.9 per cent of the shares in the company. The other 0.1 per cent is owned by Maltese company Amicorp Malta, a shareholding that appears to be fiduciary in nature.

In its report, Mundo Deportivo accused the Spanish authorities of working against Barcelona, given that Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi and former player Samuel Eto’o have been involved in similar cases.

In November, Spanish newspaper El Periodico claimed that prosecutor Miguel Angel Perez de Gregorio had raised a criminal complaint against Sanchez for not paying tax on his image rights and not declaring his earnings in full.

The player's agent had said previously: “Alexis Sanchez has perfectly obeyed every one of the laws imposed by the countries where he has resided. We ask the press and public at large for the upmost respect until the completion of the ongoing administrative and judicial process.”

Neymar is another Barcelona player who has seen his assets frozen, after a Sao Paulo court issued warrants in February to seize several properties of his in Brazil, his private jet and a yacht, in relation to alleged tax evasion on money raised from his transfer to the club from Santos.

Messi was given a 21-month suspended prison sentence after he and his father were found guilty of tax evasion, along with Mascherano who was given a one-year sentence.

Neither of the Barcelona players spent time in prison because first-time offenders in Spain do not usually go to prison for non-violent crimes if the sentences are for less than two years.