Liverpool legend John Barnes declared bankrupt after £1.5m of debt run up by company

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The bankruptcy comes just a month after Barnes opened up about his tax nightmare saying: “I’m paying what I owe.”The former footballer, who was the first £10,000-a-week player, said he has been paying HMRC for the past eight years after suffering heavy losses from poorly advised investments.He went on the All Things Business podcast to clear up what says are misleading reports about his financial affairs.Since 2017, Barnes said he had repaid around £2.2million and continues to pay £10,000 each month under arrangements agreed with the tax authority.Speaking on the podcast, Barnes said: “I was making a lot of money, I was the first £10,000 a week footballer and benefited from that for a few years. Like a lot of elite sportspeople, I got burned because I trusted people, I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between £1m and £1.5m over four years.“In 2017, I began talking to HMRC about what I could do to repay what I owed.”He said since then, when he has been served with petitions, he and his legal representatives have gone to court to make arrangements to pay because he did not want to be made bankrupt.Barnes added: “I know how hard it is for people out there.

I don’t want to say there are loopholes, or that I can get away with this or that, or have people think I can be made bankrupt and keep my assets, because I’ve already sold everything. I don’t have any assets.“But every time something new comes up, stories appear in the press saying negative things about how I am not paying my taxes, even though I’m going to court, not to be made bankrupt, but to ask for permission to keep paying.“Football is a working-class sport, and I don’t want hard working people thinking I’ve got all this money and I won’t pay tax.

Barnes added: “I’ve had a few sleepless nights, but it’s not had a major impact because I look at the way the world is and there are lots of people struggling more than me.“And as long as I am able to work and to pay, I am just thankful. But what does matter is that I reassure people, and the reason I am speaking about this now is because the narrative around me is so negative.“I have been so fortunate in my life to still be able to work and pay my bills and my kids have a roof over their head and food on the table.“The only reason I’m doing this is because people have been saying things that are not true, and I don’t want anyone thinking of me as John Barnes, ex-professional footballer, hiding all his money and not paying taxes.”Reach PLC have reached out to Barnes for comment.