Las Palmas new boy Mateo Garcia was involved in an alleged kidnap plot shortly before his move to Gran Canaria on Friday.
La Voz del Interior cites a statement from police commissioner Gustavo Piva that two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to assault Garcia in the neighbourhood of Alta Cordoba.
“At 11pm [last weekend], I was leaving a friend to go back home, and as soon as I left, three guys put me in a car; they asked me for my belongings,” the teenage winger told Radio Mitre 810.
“They told us [Garcia and his friend] to stay still and a police car passed by. My friend honked [the wheel] and the police stopped and realised what was happening.
“The subjects tried to flee. Of the three, only one succeeded [in fleeing] and the police arrested two of them.”
It has since emerged that one of the men arrested was a fan of Instituto, the club Garcia left to join Las Palmas on a four-year contract.
The 19-year-old also hinted that he may have been the victim of a failed robbery instead as he added to the radio station, “thank God that nothing was stolen.”
Image courtesy @InstitutoACC via Twitter
