The agent of former Liverpool player Andrea Dossena has revealed that the footballer was held by police after his three-year-old son tried to take a book from upmarket department store Harrods in London.

Reports emerged today claiming that the 33-year-old Italian and a 31-year-old woman, believed to be his wife, were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that the arrests were made at the Knightsbridge store and the couple were later released on bail pending further enquiries.

However, Dossena's agent Gary Sloane has defended his client by telling The Mirror: "It was a family shopping trip to Harrods and their little boy was carrying his own bag.

"He put a kids' book in there and it set the security alarms off as they left the shop. Andrea and his wife didn't have any ID with them so they had to go to the police station just to verify who they were."

Dossena, who joined Liverpool in 2008 and left two years later, currently plays for Leyton Orient.