David de Gea denies allegations linking him to prostitution scandal

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has denied any involvement in a sexual assault case after being named by a protected witness as the person who arranged and paid for an encounter between two Spain Under-21 players and two women in a Madrid hotel in 2012. "I am surprised by this," he said on Friday. "I deny it, and that's it. It's a lie, false," he said.

According to a report published by the website Eldiario on Friday, which includes copies of statements from two protected witnesses, a woman alleges that she was forced to have sexual relations with a "new girl" and two footballers, one of whom is named as the Athletic Bilbao forward Iker Muniain while the other has not been identified but whom she believed to be a Spain Under-21 team-mate at the time.

De Gea is named as the man who arranged the meeting. Police have described the witness as highly credible and ruled out financial gain as a reason for her coming forward. De Gea is also named by another witness as the alleged recipient of pornographic videos with a view to arranging meetings with footballers.

The 25-year-old, who is with Spain in France preparing for Euro 2016, added: "I am calm. Few things stop me being calm. I will train and keep doing what I like." Asked whether he could continue with Spain, he said: "Of course. If anything, I have even more strength. I have had great support from my team-mates. I want to play in the Euros. It is false and it is in my lawyers' hands.

“I have not thought about leaving France. I was in my room playing on the Play Station when I was told. The first thing was to warn my family, to make sure they are calm. They know it is false.

“She [THE WITNESS]can give all the details she likes. This is in my lawyers’ hands. I am very, very calm. I know what i do with my life. It is all false. I have no idea [where it comes from] and how it came to be in the press. It’s a way of sullying someone’s image. That’s it.”

Muniain’s agent Txus Medina added: “We do not know anything at all about this case. Neither the police nor the courts have been in touch to request any kind of information.” There has been no statement from De Gea’s camp as yet.

The witness statements were made as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of Ignacio Allende Fernández, better known as “Torbe”. He is being investigated for child pornography, prostitution, sexual assault, money laundering and extortion and has been in jail since April. In total, 10 people are set to face charges, including Allende Fernández and his Ukrainian business partner Borys Malynovskyi.

A witness statement from one of the women, reproduced by Eldiario, alleges that Allende Fernández forced her to have sex with Muniain and another footballer, a Spain U21 team-mate, in a Madrid hotel in 2012.

The witness said that she did not know who the other player was and that she tried to find out by exchanging messages with Muniain and De Gea. One of the statements published by Eldiario has a second player’s name blacked out.

The witness alleges that Allende Fernández drove her to a hotel in central Madrid, where he told her that she would be paid “a lot of money” for having sexual relations with another woman, Muniain and another player. The woman was told that she had to do whatever the footballers wanted and when she refused, Allende Fernández grabbed her by the arm and forced her to.

The statement alleges that she was “sexually abused by both players: and “physically assaulted by both.” Afterwards, it is alleged that she was threatened and warned not to reveal their identity. The statement says that the two women were not paid, despite having been told they would be, and that Allende Fernández took the money for himself.

A statement from another protected witness, aged 17, alleges that Allende Fernández had drugged her and raped her twice. She said that he made her film an explicit video which he claimed would be sent to De Gea and other players in order to arrange encounters.

No players have been called to testify since the statement was made in May 2015. Various victims have made statements before the investigating judge and the accused are expected to be called next week.