Report: Liverpool paid City £1M in 2013 over hacking allegations

Liverpool made a £1-million payment to Manchester City after being accused of hacking into the club's scouting database in 2012 and 2013, according to The Times' Martyn Ziegler and Matt Dickinson.

Michael Edwards - Liverpool's current sporting director - and two other scouts allegedly accessed City's "Scout 7" system hundreds of times over an eight-month period between June 2012 and February 2013. The allegations were first reported in 2013, but word of a settlement only surfaced on Friday.

A source close to the Premier League told The Times it was unaware of any settlement at the time. Liverpool reportedly paid £1 million without accepting any wrongdoing.

City accelerated deals for Fernandinho and Jesus Navas out of concern over the apparent hack, Ziegler and Dickinson report. Their suspicions were raised after Liverpool expressed interest in Paolo Fernandes, a youth player at Real Zaragoza who later joined City's academy. Fernandes is now on loan at Serie B side Perugia.