AN 18-year-old boy has claimed to be an illegitimate son of Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
Santiago Lara made the stunning suggestion on the popular Argentine talk show 'Intrusos En El Espectaculo' ('Intruders in the Show').
Maradona, 57, already has five children he calls his own and his lawyer spectacularly revealed he could have more in Cuba after "behaving badly."
Lara claims he first found out about his past five years ago when he saw his face on a magazine.
He said: "When I went to buy the newspaper for my grandmother as I always did the errands, I saw my own face in a magazine called 'Pronto' ('Soon') calling me his alleged son from La Plata (Buenos Aires Province)."
Lara's mother died of lung cancer in 2003 when she was just 23.
Confronting his grandmother demanding the truth, he added: "My grandmother got angry, called my dad and they joined the lawyer.
"My family always wanted to protect me from this, because for them it was a closed issue after my mother had died . I didn't want to know anything about that story until I was 16 years old.
"There was such a stir that I preferred to lock myself up and return to anonymity.
"My dad, along with a lawyer we had at the time, told me what happened and how my mum met him.
"My family did not want me to be involved in this, so my gran tried to shelter me and protect my integrity."
The boy added that his mother "met Maradona through Ferrito (his former close friend)" and that she told Lara's non-biological father 'the truth' one week before she died of cancer.
It is unclear if Lara is really the son of Maradona - who led anti-England chants as he was unveiled as boss of Argentinian side Gimnasia this week - as there have been no reports of DNA testing or official comments from the Argentine legend about the matter.
didadinors
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Wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Always on high testosterone levels in his younger days...