Liverpool tried to cover up their tapping-up of an 11-year-old boy by instructing his father to lie to Premier League investigators, according to shocking allegations about their conduct that can now be revealed.

The lengths to which one of the world’s most famous teams were allegedly prepared to go to conceal forbidden inducements made to a Stoke City schoolboy and his family can be laid bare by The Daily Telegraph following an investigation into the events which saw the Anfield side become the first to be punished under strict new Premier League rules.

The saga also left the youngster’s parents in thousands of pounds of debt and the boy – now 13 – unable to join another academy until former club Stoke are paid £49,000.

The inducements allegedly offered by Liverpool included all-expenses-paid trips to tournaments in Paris and Denmark, £50 cash in hand every time the boy went for training at their academy, and even money to help his father replace a faulty car exhaust.

It can also be disclosed that during a meeting with the elder son of the family, which he recorded on his mobile phone, Liverpool told him the club were willing to pay a £5,000 debt incurred in school fees but were unable to do so while his parents pursued a formal complaint against them.