Former Barcelona and Manchester United defender Gerard Pique has been placed under official investigation by a court in Spain over his alleged involvement in a deal which saw the Spanish Super Cup moved to Saudi Arabia.

Pique’s company Kosmos signed agreements with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) which would see it receive 40m euros (£34m) for brokering the deal, with the RFEF receiving 400m euros (£340m).

Judge Delia Rodrigo said there were “possible illegalities with criminal implications” in the agreements.

Ex-Spain international Pique, 37, has now been formally included among a group of people under official investigation over the alleged matters.

He has always defended the deal and denied wrongdoing, insisting it was “legal”.

The case has been under investigation since 2022 when audio recordings of Pique and then-RFEF president Luis Rubiales were leaked.

RFEF offices were raided by investigators in March and Rubiales – who has also defended the legality of the deal – was arrested when returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic in April.

He had already stepped down from the RFEF last September after kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso following last year’s World Cup final. He is separately facing trial for for sexual assault over that issue.

His successor, Pedro Rocha, is also a person under investigation over the Saudi deal.

The Spanish Super Cup relocated to Saudi Arabia in 2020 and returned there in 2022 following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pique played twice for Barcelona in Spanish Super Cups in Saudi Arabia before retiring in November 2022.