Lazio have reportedly fallen for an email scam and paid £1.75m (€2m) of the final instalment for defender Stefan de Vrij’s transfer from Dutch club Feyenoord to fraudsters.

Italian newspaper Il Tempo reported that hackers with knowledge of the deal tricked the Serie A club into paying the money into the wrong bank account in the Netherlands.

Lazio received an email that appeared to be from the Dutch champions asking for the £1.75m (€2m) along with bank account details, and duly sent the money.

But Feyenoord never received the cash and claim to have no knowledge of the email.

Il Tempo said that the prosecutor looking into the case has tracked down the money to a Dutch bank account, which does not belong to Feyenoord.

26-year-old Vrij joined Lazio in 2014 for £6.8m after a successful World Cup with the Netherlands, but will leave for nothing this summer after failing to extend his contract.