Man City under FA investigation over ‘agent fee’ paid as part of Jadon Sancho transfer

The Football Association has confirmed that it is investigation an allegation that Manchester City paid Emeka Obasi £200,000 in covered-up agents fee

Manchester City are under a Football Association investigation over allegations that the Premier League club paid Jadon Sancho’s agent £200,000 when they signed him from Watford at the age of 14.

Allegations made by German newspaper Der Spiegel that City attempted to cover-up the payment, which was claimed to have been made to Sancho’s agent Emeka Obasi. Der Spiegel alleges that City paid the fee to Obasi as a scouting contract to find young players in Central and South America in 2015.

Der Spiegel last week published an internal email purported to have been sent from a Manchester City employee that detailed the “scouting services agreement” as a fee paid “in relation to Jadon and his agent Emeka, as detailed by The Times.

The email adds that the £200,000 fee was an “Agent Fee”, which would go against FA and Fifa rules that prevents them from being included in any transfers until a player is 16 years old.

In a statement issued to The Times, an FA spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we will be investigating the allegations.”

A second email allegedly from a lawyer working for Manchester City details the salary that the club were willing to pay Sancho, as well as what he could earn through bonuses in the future at the Etihad Stadium. In the email, the lawyer appears to outline how this could fall foul of breaking rules that ban incentives or inducements for players under the age of 16.

“I have made a couple of tweaks to make it clear that this is not in itself an offer,” the email states. “However, there is a risk that this would still be deemed to be an inducement and therefore a breach of that rule.”

City have repeatedly refused to respond to the allegations and claim that the information being released by Der Spiegel in coordination with the Football Leaks data leak is “out of context” and “an attempt to damage the club’s reputation”.

“We will not be providing any comment on out-of-context materials purported to have been hacked or stolen from City Football Group and Manchester City personnel and associated people,” a statement from Manchester City read. “The attempt to damage the Club’s reputation is organised and clear.”

Sancho left City in August 2017 in an £8m move to Borussia Dortmund in Germany, and any club who wishes to bring him back to the Premier League faces meeting a huge asking price that is creeping towards a nine-figure fee due to his impressive form in the Bundesliga.

Jadon Sancho's agent was allegedly paid £200,000 in a covered-up fee in 2015 (Getty)

City were frustrated to lose Sancho two seasons’ ago, and this latest investigation will only trigger another headache for the reigning Premier League champions after they were included in the initial batch of data released by Football Leaks. Both Uefa and the Premier League are investigating the club over an allegation that they provided misleading information on sponsorship income.