Paul Kelso

Manchester United last night launched a defence against allegations that they made payments to agents associated with the son of manager Alex Ferguson in connection with the £2.3 million transfer of goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The Football Association in England yesterday confirmed they would investigate the allegations, made in the Sunday Times, after the newspaper passed it copies of documents detailing a series of payments to agents.

The allegations centre on the transfer last summer of Howard, who played in the club's scoreless draw with Newcastle United yesterday. It is claimed that Gaetano Marotta, the Swiss-based agent who negotiated Howard's move from New York MetroStars to Old Trafford, passed £143,000 to Mike Morris, an agent who has close ties to Ferguson's son Jason, who is himself an agent.

"All our transfer deals are approved by the board of Manchester United plc and are conducted in accordance with FIFA and FA rules," the club said in a statement. "Details of all payments involved in those deals are sent to the football authorities as required under their regulations."

United consider the sum paid to Marotta was appropriate and are frustrated that their financial methods, which they consider among the most sophisticated in the game, have been called into question.

The case highlights the difficulty of regulating the increasingly complex international transfer market as well as the potential for conflicts of interest raised by agents who are related to leading football figures. Jason Ferguson is one of a number of sons of football managers working as agents.

Ferguson (31), who runs the Elite sport management agency, has represented a number of players in transfer deals with Manchester United and represented his father in recent contract negotiations with the club. Elite reputedly pays Morris's mobile phone bill and has been involved in several high-profile deals including the £16 million transfer of Jaap Stam to Lazio from Manchester United in 2001.

Agents are prohibited from receiving payments from more than one party in transfer deals, and clubs must declare all fees paid to the principal agent to the FA. There is no suggestion in the reports that the club have broken either of these regulations, but is furious at the insinuation that they had acted improperly.

Despite the fact that no offence against football regulations has been alleged, the FA is bound to investigate the allegations, but a charge is unlikely. "Clearly, as the governing body in this country we must investigate any allegation to ensure there is no wrong-doing, but that does not guarantee action will be taken unless the wrongdoing can be proved," the FA said.

Any investigation would add to the poor relations between the governing body and Manchester United, which plunged to a new low following Rio Ferdinand's eight-month ban for failing to take a drugs test.

The revelations are more likely to increase tension in the Old Trafford boardroom. The club has been the subject of persistent rumours about a takeover, and speculation over the intentions of John Magnier, the Irish millionaire who owns nearly 25 per cent of the club.

Mr Magnier and Ferguson are locked in a dispute over the ownership of the thoroughbred horse Rock of Gibraltar that seems certain to end in the courts.

Guardian Service