Blues in the dock
Everton face second tapping-up probe
Everton were last night 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.
The Telegraph has corroborated this latter claim with a source familiar with the case who said Everton pulled out of the deal – after the family had already relocated to the North-west – due to Fifa regulations governing cross-border transfers for players under the age of 16.
The source also revealed the boy, whom The Telegraph has chosen not to name, was forced to return to the grass-roots game until Cardiff received approximately £10,000 compensation for his development.
He was eventually scouted by United, whom the source said learnt of his plight from his “upset” mother and who agreed to sign him last year and pay the compensation figure owed.
The boy’s mother did not respond to requests for comment yesterday when contacted about the Premier League investigation. Everton, who deny tapping up Silva, said in a statement: “Everton has been notified of an allegation relating to an approach by the club to an academy-aged player.
“On being made aware of this, we immediately launched an internal investigation and have been cooperating fully with all of the relevant authorities.”
Waldron, who has been at Everton for more than two decades, did not respond to requests for comment, with a club spokesman confirming he did not wish to comment.
Cardiff did not respond to requests for comment, while the Premier League and United declined to comment.
Everton were one of the victims of tapping up by Manchester City, who were last year handed a twoyear academy transfer ban – the second year of which was suspended for three years – over their recruitment of two schoolboys.