Javier Mascherano has pleaded guilty to defrauding the taxman.

The Barça man has admitted to two counts of tax fraud and already paid the total amounts owed. He will now have to pay whatever fine the court decides. The Argentina international defrauded Spain's tax authorities of a little over 1.5m euros in unpaid income tax and undeclared income generated from his image rights during 2011 and 2012.

Mascherano spent 55 minutes inside the court building, but only three of those in front of the judge. He had been called to testify after an investigation by tax authorities led to prosecutors charging the Argentine of two counts of tax fraud.

The midfielder defrauded 587,822 euros in 2011 and 968,907 in 2012 through the use of two companies, one in Miami and another in Madeira. Prosecutors described the player's actions as a "strategy aimed at hiding income generated through his image rights".

On the advice of his lawyers, Mascherano already paid the 1.5m euros demanded by the taxman, plus another 200,000 euros in interest. However, that did not stop him from being called to testify in court, just as his teammate Leo Messi did before him.