Liverpool are under investigation for allegedly tapping up and offering a forbidden inducement to a Stoke City schoolboy.

The Anfield side are also accused of reneging on an agreement to pay the youngster’s school fees, leaving his parents – who pulled out of a deal with the club as a result – in thousands of pounds of debt.

To compound the family’s woes, the unnamed boy cannot now play for another team until Stoke receive a compensation fee of almost £50,000.

An investigation into the claims was launched earlier this year by the Premier League, which had already been looking into allegations related to a grievance Liverpool had about one of their own schoolboys joining Manchester City.

Both of the controversial transfers date back to last summer, when Liverpool allegedly tapped up a 12-year-old considered to be one of Stoke’s best youngsters.