Liverpool FC are being investigated after allegedly tapping up a Stoke City youngster using a forbidden inducement.
As reported by The Telegraph, the Merseyside club are also accused of going back on their word regarding an offer to pay for the child’s school fees.
Liverpool reportedly tried to sign the unnamed 12-year-old, with the Reds agreeing to pay the boy’s private school fees until he turned 16.
However, a rule states that such an agreement would force LFC to offer to do the same for all schoolchildren on their books.
Upon learning this, Liverpool pulled out of the deal, leaving the Stoke boy’s parents in thousands of pounds of debt.
To compound the family’s woes, the young player in question is now ineligible to play for another team, until Stoke are paid compensation of £49,000.
The Telegraph quotes a source as saying: “This is a shocking example of how children in Premier League football are being used and abused.
“This kid has done nothing wrong at all but he’s been left out in the cold and his parents are having to foot the bill for private education that they can’t afford.
“The whole thing is a total disgrace. Everyone at the top of the Premier League and both football clubs are fully aware of what has gone on, and it is something that must be stamped out of the game.
“Everyone knows how children’s lives and education are being ruined with the promise of football riches and it needs to stop.”
Liverpool and Stoke’s youth teams both play in the U18 Premier League North Division, sitting third and eighth respectively in the table.