Seven high profile footballers have reportedly been drawn into a watch smuggling case in Andorra.
Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal, Santi Cazorla, Giovani Lo Celso, Thomas Partey, Cesar Azpilicueta, Juan Bernat and Man City legend David Silva all allegedly bought watches that had reportedly been obtained through smuggling, according to Spanish outlet elDiario.es.
The report states that Andorran judge Joan Carles Moynat has requested Spanish authorities help him to question the players to find out about the ‘purchase, delivery and transport’ of the watches they acquired.
The Civil Guard, one of two national law enforcement agencies in Spain, is said to have already contacted some of the players.
The crux of the matter is that Diego GC, the main suspect in the case who was sent to provisional imprisonment in Andorra in October, is accused of smuggling and money laundering. Those crimes could lead to an eight-year sentence in prison.
Diego GC is accused of ‘evading his customs obligations’ in regards to the luxury watches, which effectively means he used various measures to avoid the payment of VAT on their sales.
Seven footballers have reportedly been drawn into a watch smuggling case of Rolex and Patek Philippe models in Andorra
Former Arsenal star Santi Cazorla is one of the individuals who allegedly bought a watch that had reportedly been obtained through smuggling
Rather than selling watches directly to the players in Spain, a Spanish company linked to Diego GC imported the watches to an Andorran company in which he held a stake.
The subsequent sale was then carried out from Andorra, with the judge suggesting the only ‘plausible motive’ for this operation was financial gain for the suspect through VAT deductions by both his Andorran and Spanish companies.
As a result, alongside the seven footballers who purchased the watches, the judge also wants to question the seven Spanish individuals or companies that sold the watches to the Andorran firm, who then resold the watches to the players.
A 15th individual involved is an undisclosed woman, although she received a refund on the €79,000 (£68,731) she paid for a watch three days after purchasing it.
The footballers purchased the watches, which were mainly Rolex and Patek Philippe models, from Diego GC’s Andorran firm rather than the original manufacturers.
ElDiario also claimed that Partey spent the most on watches over the period involved, with the former Arsenal midfielder splashing €415,000 (£361,060) on three Patek Philippe models.
Further details in the report suggested that when the watches were taken from Andorra to Spain, the mandatory export declaration wasn’t made at customs.
Meanwhile, when the main suspect and his partner were caught by customs agents in September 2025, they had watches on their wrists worth a total of €104,000 (£90,482).
The sales of those watches had been made from a Spanish company linked to the suspect to his Andorran company, but again they weren’t declared as an export.
Overall, Diego GC is accused of importing 38 watches from Andorra, valued at €1.35million (£1.17m), but he is alleged to have failed to declare those transactions with authorities.
The judge is therefore keen to speak to all the footballers to find out more about how they purchased these watches.
