Ex-Arsenal and Man City star faces €5.5m tax probe thanks to Deliveroo orders

Robin Bairner

• 4 Apr 2026 14:04 BST
• 6 min read

News

Former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri faces a tax investigation in France that could be settled, in part, due to the player’s Deliveroo orders.

Nasri is officially a tax resident of Dubai, where the tax bill is virtually non-existent, yet the French tax authorities are conducting an investigation following accusations that he is actually staying in Paris.

According to an investigation by Les Echos, one of the key elements cited by the French authorities against the 38-year-old, who won 41 caps for France in an illustrious career, is a Deliveroo history that totals more than 200 orders.

Deliveroo and airline data – the evidence against Nasri

The French tax authorities are investigating the possibility that Nasri owes the French government more than €5.51 million, including €5.25m in income tax for the years 2020-2022.

Nasri faces severe consequences to these allegations. The tax authorities have sought an obtained a seizure of his property in Paris, which was upheld by the Paris Judicial Court on 12 March, while the former Arsenal star has had his bank accounts frozen.

Among the key pieces of evidence that Les Echos claims the French authorities have gathered is documents from airlines that show he spent between 126-208 days annually in France between 2021 and 2023 but just 42-124 days in the UAE.

Les Echos also reports that he had 212 meals delivered to his account in Paris via Deliveroo.

In addition to this, Nasri’s contract with a French TV station requiring him to record 40-45 programs between September 2021 and June 2022 is presented as further evidence.

Nasri appeals court decision

Nasri’s lawyers have indicated that the court’s decision to seize his property in Paris has been appealed.

Furthermore, they have questioned whether the precautionary seizure without an enforceable judgement was legal.

Lyes Kaci, who Les Echos interviews as an expert in international tax law, believes that the evidence so far made public is certainly not enough to condemn Nasri.

“Be careful not to jump to conclusions,” he warns. “The heart of this matter is far from settled. At this stage, it would be a little too easy to conclude that Nasri is a French tax resident simply by having access to the arguments of the tax authorities; especially since the court’s decision does not establish the nature and, above all, the origin of the income for which the former footballer is being reassessed.”

Even if deemed a French tax resident, some income could still fall outside French taxation under bilateral agreements.

Samir Nasri’s career

Nasri began his career at Marseille, his hometown club, and immediately impressed upon breaking into the first team to such an extent that he was hyped as ‘the new Zidane’.

He was unable to win any team honours with OM but did earn the title of France’s Young Player of the year in 2006/07 before moving to Arsenal for €16m in 2008.

After three years at the Emirates, where he never quite fulfilled his potential, he would move to Manchester City in a €27.5m deal. The mercurial Frenchman would eventually win two premier League titles at the Etihad Stadium, but there was always a sense that he underachieved.

Former City boss Roberto Mancini once infamously claimed that would like to “give him a punch”, while Nasri was described in a 2017 Guardian column as a player who has a “reflex for self preservation”.

His career petered out in a disappointing manner with spells at Antalyaspor, West Ham and Anderlecht.

Nasri is now best known in France as a television pundit with Ligue1+ and Canal+.