Everton handed academy transfer ban over 'illegal inducements'

The Premier League revelased that Everton academy staff "offered inducements to a player and his family to encourage the player to register with the club".

"In certain cases, it was found that the club provided false information to the League when questions had previously been raised about the circumstances in which Academy players registered with the club," the Premier League added.

The ban means that the 'Toffees' will not be able to recruit any players for their academy who have been registered with another Premier League or Football League side in the preceeding 18 months for a period of two years, with a £500,000 fine having also been imposed.

Everton admitted their culpability, with an internal investigation finding six similar cases of misconduct regarding academy players.

An Everton statement read: "We are extremely disappointed with some of the practices we have found which are not in line with our values and not acceptable to Everton Football Club.

"We have already commenced a full review of our academy operations and are committed to ensuring that issues like this do not happen again at Everton."