In 2014, the transfer of Mehdi Benatia from AS Roma to Bayern Munich for 23.9 million pounds caused a stir. But it was an incident that occurred during his stay in Bavaria that caught the attention: the theft of his pay slip from his car, quickly broadcast on WhatsApp.
The document revealed an annual salary of 6 million euros. More worrying for the man who was then one of the best defenders of his generation, personal information such as postal addresses or bank details had also been disclosed. The German police then opened an investigation to find the author of this leak, without knowing if it was successful.
Benatia was not the only player victim of embarrassing leaks
Benatia is not the only player to have been the victim of this type of indiscretion. Raheem Sterling had a similar mishap during his time at Manchester City, his pay slip having been found in his car left in the garage.
The Moroccan international spent two seasons at Bayern (46 matches), winning two Bundesligas and a German Cup, before joining Juventus in 2017. He ended his career in 2021 after spells at Al Duhail (Qatar) and Fatih Karagümrük (Turkey). Now retired from football, he is following a career change in his sporting environment, first as a player agent and now as a sports director for Olympique de Marseille.
