A former professional soccer star claimed that FC Barcelona once offered him "money under the ... [+] table". UEFA via Getty Images A former professional soccer star claimed that FC Barcelona once offered him “money under the table". Guayre Betancor played for Las Palmas, Villarreal, Celta Vigo, Numancia and Lugo during his career and amassed 184 La Liga appearances over eight seasons while notching eight goals. While at the first club, Barca allegedly approached him in one of two attempts to land the now retired 44-year-old. “I was twice on the verge of signing for Barcelona,” Betancor stated during an interview on the Curios@s Youtube program. “When I was 20 years old, when I was playing in Las Palmas, I took a plane and went to Barcelona without anyone knowing, only my agent [knew].” While he confesses that he “was not yet ready to play Barca”, Betancor was already “attracting attention” at the time. “I went to lunch with Carles Rexach, who was the sporting director [at FC Barcelona], and he told me 'We are going to give you money under the table, you are from a humble family'. “They told me to stay in Las Palmas training and 'then we’ll give you money under the table’. Just like that. And that was the first time, I freaked out,” Betancor explained. MORE FOR YOU Elon Musk Says He’s Running His Companies ‘With Great Difficulty’ As Tesla Shares Plummet ‘With Love, Meghan’ Ratings: Netflix Show Bows To Lower Viewership Than ‘Harry & Meghan’ NYT Mini Today: Clues And Answers For Tuesday, March 11 Betancor further claimed that Rexach’s proposal was “to continue in Las Palmas training and while we give you money under the table and whenever you want you come here for free”. “That was the first time, then the year ended and Villarreal paid the €6 million ($6.5 million) for me,” Betancor recalled. Of course when Villarreal paid Betancor’s release clause at Las Palmas in 2001, the chance of the player winding up at Camp Nou vanished overnight. Betancor spent five years at the Estadio de la Ceramica in total, winning the Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004. Almost two decades later, Barca and Las Palmas did business in what some of called the bargain of the century. It involved paying a reported €5 million euros for Pedri initially, though Las Palmas president Miguel Angel Ramirez recently revealed the true value of the deal ahead of the midfielder making a maiden appearance against his boyhood club at their home stadium in Blaugrana. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades