London: The offices of Newcastle and West Ham have been raided by tax officials as part of an Anglo-French investigation into a suspected £5million fraud related to player transfers. The raids, which included premises in France, took place yesterday morning and several men have been arrested, including Newcastle’s managing director Lee Charnley.

A spokesperson for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said: "HMRC has arrested several men working within the professional football industry for a suspected £5million income tax and National Insurance fraud. 180 HMRC officers have been deployed across the UK and France. Investigators have searched a number of premises in the north east and south east of England and arrested the men and also seized business records, financial records, computers and mobile phones.