Illegal Transfer Claims Continue

In a continuation of allegations about illegal under-age transfers, both Manchester City and Liverpool are downplaying claims that they have unlawfully signed young French players.

City has denied claims from Rennes that it illegally signed Jeremy Helan, who joined the club in February.

The French club reported to the sport’s world governing body FIFA that the 17-year-old was bound through a pre-contract agreement that he signed when he was 13, which would tie him to the club if he represented France at a junior level.

Helan then joined City, with the International Transfer Certificate provided by French Football Federation, according to media reports.

Under current European law, it is illegal for players to sign contracts binding them to clubs before the age of 16, however, this is complicated by the fact that different countries’ governing bodies have different rules and labour laws.

In what seems to be a domino effect, Liverpool has also been accused of allegedly approaching a teenager from League Two club Crew Alexandra.

According to media reports, Liverpool was linked with 15-year-old Max Clayton in February 2008 and was willing to pay a six-figure sum for him.

Liverpool, however, is playing down the allegations, claiming that it is unaware of any complaints.

The surfacing of these cases, as well as that of Man Utd which occurred earlier this week, was triggered by FIFA’s recent transfer ban on Chelsea for illegal approaches to underage players.

Chelsea has been banned from signing any new players until January 2011.