Manchester United paid Paul Pogba's parents, Le Havre president alleges

•Jean-Pierre Louvel 'deeply disappointed' by conduct
•United says deal done within Fifa guidelines

Paul Pogba of France, right, battles for the ball with Fabian Hurzeler of Germany during an Under16 international in April. Photograph: Getty Images/Bongarts/Getty Images for DFB

The controversy over Manchester United's signing of the 16-year-old French midfielder Paul Pogba has taken a fresh twist, amid claims that the player's parents were given €100,000 (£87,000) each, and a house, to bring him to Old Trafford.

Jean-Pierre Louvel, the president of Pogba's former club, Le Havre, made the claims in an interview with a French football magazine. Louvel also alleged the player was given guarantees over wages he would receive when he turned 17. Louvel said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Premier League club's conduct.

United have again strongly denied any wrongdoing. "It is complete nonsense," a spokesman said. "Everything has been done within Fifa guidelines."

Le Havre are expected to report Pogba's case to Fifa, which last week handed Chelsea a transfer ban until 2011 and a fine over their recruitment of Gaël Kakuta, another French teenager, from Lens. Chelsea have denied illegally inducing the player and have said they will appeal.

Asked how Premier League teams lure teenagers from clubs in their home countries, Louvel said: "They tempt the parents. In the case of Paul Pogba it was fairly simple: €100,000 for the father, €100,000 for the mother and a house.

"Today I can't see why the Paul Pogba case should not set a legal precedent. Fifa does not allow contracts longer than three years before a player has reached 18. We respect that in France; in England it seems that they don't abide by that rule.

"The problem is there – France respects a certain number of rules but English clubs do not respect anything. In the case of Pogba there was a legal agreement that he should not be poached and this needs to be respected by these clubs."

Le Havre say Pogba had signed an "accord de non sollicitation" agreement, by which a player effectively agrees to sign a professional contract at a later date. United believe such an agreement is not legally enforceable. They are adamant the player did not have a contract, so they cannot have induced him to break one.

United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has said that he wants Wayne Rooney to avoid drifting around the pitch and to concentrate on his centre-forward role. "He has so much energy that sometimes he overdoes it in the sense that he wants to use it all; he'll drop into midfield or he'll go outside left," Ferguson told Inside United magazine. "But he's young, and young players tend to sometimes be that way ... But if he concentrates like he did at Wigan [in last month's 5-0 win] and spends more time in the central areas rather than the wide positions then he will get goals."