The claims have already been investigated by the police and no further action was taken, but they are still being looked at by the club and the Football Association.

In a statement, the pair's lawyer Eddie Johns said: "Our clients deny all and any allegations of racial or other abuse.

"These allegations were the subject of a thorough investigation by specialist officers of the Metropolitan Police Service. The MPS did not consider there was sufficient evidence even to report it to the Crown Prosecution Service. Our clients cooperated with that investigation.

"The allegations in the Guardian newspaper are contained, as we understand it, within correspondence sent to Chelsea Football Club. That correspondence has not been seen by our clients or by us.

"No correspondence has been sent to our clients or us by these individuals or those representing them. We will of course deal with any allegations if made directly to our clients. Our clients are cooperating fully with the FA in this matter."

The story broke just before Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte's pre-match press conference for Saturday's game at home to Leicester, forcing the club's director of communications Steve Atkins to intervene with a statement.

"I can't answer specifically to the story you mentioned," said Atkins, in response to a reporter's question.

"What I can say is that we take allegations of this nature extremely seriously, we are absolutely determined to do the right thing, to fully support those affected and assist the authorities and support their investigations. That's all I can say."

The allegations reported by the Guardian paint a bleak picture of almost constant racial abuse towards young black players, bullying and violence.

According to the paper, Rix also threw a cup of hot coffee in the face of one of the players and left one of the complainants with a bleeding nose after throwing a ball at him.

As referenced by their lawyer, the paper reports that the matter was investigated by the police for seven months but it was decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

Since then, however, two of the players are understood to have been interviewed by the FA's safeguarding team.

When asked for the latest on that investigation, an FA spokesperson said: "The FA is not in a position to comment on this matter."