Liverpool are in danger of being hit with a transfer ban over claims they tapped up and offered a forbidden inducement to a Stoke City schoolboy.

Telegraph Sport has learnt that the Anfield club are on the brink of being punished by the Premier League over the allegations and have been attempting to negotiate an agreed sanction.

That would almost certainly involve a fine but may also see Liverpool hit with a transfer ban – part or all of which could be suspended – on academy players.

Any live ban would see the club join the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in being hit by such a sanction for breaking youth transfer rules.

As exclusively revealed by the Telegraph last week, Liverpool have also been accused of reneging on an agreement to pay the unnamed Stoke 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.