Spanish giants Barcelona have dismissed reports that suggested they illegally bought a transplant liver for their former defender Eric Abidal.

“FC Barcelona roundly deny any irregularity in the matter,” the club said in a statement on their website.

Abidal, who is now a sporting director at Barca, received a liver transplant in April 2012 at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, eventually returning to the game a year later before retirement in 2014.

According to El Confidencial, a telephonic conversation that involved former club president Sandro Rosell was tapped and it suggested that the club had illegally acquired a liver for the player.

Meanwhile, Rossell is due to face trial on money laundering charges in connection with Brazilian TV rights sales, and was also investigated for his part in the deal which brought Brazilian superstar Neymar to Barcelona.

A Barcelona court said it had decided not to proceed with a crime of organ trafficking after having investigated the case for more than a year and not finding any evidence.

“The club are saddened by the lack of rigour in the spreading of such information about such a sensitive issue,” said the Barcelona statement.