Everton are facing a second tapping-up inquiry over allegations they broke Premier League rules in pursuit of a schoolboy who now plays for Manchester United.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the club are under investigation following claims they breached regulations on the transfer of minors during an attempt to sign the youngster from Cardiff City.

Everton are already facing an independent inquiry into their recruitment of manager Marco Silva amid a bitter dispute with his former club, Watford.

The Telegraph can now reveal the Premier League received a letter last month – a copy of which was also sent to this newspaper – containing detailed accusations about the alleged tapping-up of a schoolboy by Everton in 2016. If found guilty, they risk joining Liverpool and Manchester City in being handed an academy transfer ban.

The letter alleges the boy was tapped up by Martin Waldron, the club’s head of academy recruitment, who it accuses of approaching his family “towards the end of his under-11 year or early in the under-12 year”.

It claims the boy was offered a place at a school associated with Everton, as well as “full costs paid for a rented house and a family allowance cash payment of £600 per month”. The letter alleges the proposed transfer collapsed after Waldron was informed it would not comply with “international clearance rules”, leaving the boy “in limbo” and “unable to play” academy football.