Manchester City have been banned from signing academy players for two years by the Premier League.
The Citizens have also been fined £300,000 after breaches two separate breaches of youth development rules.
City discovered their fate on Friday afternoon when the Premier League released the following statement.
It read: “Following an investigation, the Premier League found evidence that the club’s conduct prior to applying to register the players contravened league rules.
“This included evidence of contact between the club and members of each academy player’s family while those academy players were still registered with their previous clubs.
“Manchester City will pay a fine of £300,000 and will be prohibited from registering any Academy players in the Under 10 to Under 18 age range who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months. This ban will last for two years.
“The period of this ban from 30 June 2018 onwards will be suspended for three years to be activated in the event of any similar breach by the club.”
It added: “In each case, the academy player was conditionally registered with Manchester City while the Premier League’s investigation was ongoing.
“As a result of the club’s breaches, the players’ registrations will be terminated on a specified date, with no compensation rights retained by the club, and the club will not be permitted to re-register them as academy players.
“In addition, Manchester City has offered to pay compensation to each player’s previous club, and maintain educational provision for each player until the completion of his GCSEs.”