Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez confessed to tax fraud in Spain of almost €1million.

The Chilean owned up to defrauding the Spanish treasury of €983,000 (£865,000) between 2012 and 2013 when he was playing for Barcelona.

In his statement to a Catalan court, via video link from London, Sanchez confessed to two counts of tax fraud.

Alexis Sanchez has admitted to committing tax fraud during his time with Barcelona

According to Europa Press, the Arsenal star is understood to have already returned the money he admitted to withholding.

As a consequence of his repayment, he is not likely to have to face a trial with an agreement to be reached by both parties.

This would involve the defence team of Sanchez negotiating with the prosecution an adequate fine to compensate for the delay in tax payments.

The Arsenal forward appeared via video link to admit wrongdoing in a Spanish court

Sanchez has already repaid the amount of £865,000 he hid in his own company

The allegations initially came to light in November 2016 when it was proposed that Sanchez hid the existence of a company called Numidia trading, based in Malta.

Sanchez transferred funds from his image rights to Numidia, of which he owns 99 per cent.

The Arsenal man will look to put this episode behind him as Arsene Wenger's side continue to push to make up ground in the title race.