Barcelona deny reports Eric Abidal's liver was illegally purchased by Sandro Rosell

Barcelona have denied a report in El Confidencial which claims the club's former president Sandro Rosell illegally purchased a liver for Eric Abidal in 2012.

Abidal, appointed as Barca's new sporting director last month, underwent a liver transplant in 2012 when he was still a player at the club, with his cousin donating his organ.

After the transplant, he was sidelined for almost a year, completing a two-year ordeal with illness following the removal of a tumour on his liver in March 2011.

He eventually returned to the pitch but only made a handful of appearances for Barcelona before signing for Monaco in 2013 and then retiring in 2014 after a brief spell at Olympiakos.