Chelsea ‘to report’ Liverpool for ‘tapping up young striker’

Liverpool could find themselves embroiled in another complaint over an illegal approach – this time over their signing of Dominic Solanke from Chelsea.

The Reds announced the signing of the 19-year-old striker on May 30, with the England U20 international moving to Anfield upon the expiration of his Stamford Bridge contract.

But The Sun claim in an exclusive that the Reds ‘face a tapping-up quiz’ over the deal, which sees Solanke arrive at Anfield on a three-year deal from July 1.

They report that the move ‘will go to tribunal’, which is simply commonplace for the transfer of a player under the age of 24 at the end of their contract. Our story last month suggested the Reds could expect to Chelsea around £3million for the player.

Still, the tabloids Mike McGrath says that said tribunal will ‘put Kop transfers in the spotlight again,’ and that ‘the timeline of the transfer will come to light later this year’.

That second point is salient as, according to McGrath, ‘rules state that out-of-contract players can talk to domestic clubs after the third week in May.’

The Solanke deal was announced after this point at the end of the season, but Liverpool’s move for the striker was first reported in February.

The paper also states Chelsea, for their part, are said to be ‘fuming’ about the situation.