Chelsea youngster Dominic Solanke holding Blues to £50,000-a-week wages ransom
England Under-21s man is yet to make a first-team start for the Stamford Bridge club, but wants extortionate pay package
CHELSEA startlet Dominic Solanke is holding the club to ransom, demanding £50,000-a-week to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Not only that, the forward, 18, is insisting on being given first team assurances if he is to commit his long-term future to the west London club.
Solanke is touted as one of the brightest talents in the country, however his inexperience at the highest level is reportedly holding the club back from tying him down.
The whizkid’s contract is up in 12 months and his father — who is handling negotiations — allegedly stunned Chelsea officials with his list of demands.
Even more baffling is the fact that Solanke has only ONE first team appearance to his name for the Blues — coming off the bench in a Champions League tie.
He has spent this term out on loan at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem — netting seven times in 24 appearances.
To put the England Under-21 international’s demands in perspective, Tottenham’s Harry Kane — the Premier League’s leading goalscorer — is currently only on £50,000-a-week himself.
On top of that, earlier this season, even after his heroics from the 2014-15 campaign, Kane was only taking home £20,000-a-week.
So demands of £50,000-a-week for a virtually unknown, unproven entity is nothing short of bizarre.
Chelsea are reportedly keen to keep hot prospect Solanke — who first joined the Blues in their Under-8s side — on the books, but are as yet refusing to be held to ransom.
However, the fact the Blues are desperate to bring through their first genuine home-grown star since John Terry may play into the young forward’s hands.
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had already warned of the dangers concerning parents and agents on young, impressionable players.
The Special One said: “When the players are almost there and are in the process to be almost there, parents and agents think they are already there and they make the players think they are there, and they are not there.
“So instead of thinking about money during a career, they think about money before a career starts and everything gets every confused.
“That doesn’t help the players because the players need stability.”
On a more positive note for the Stamford Bridge outfit, they did manage to sign Solanke’s fellow youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek down to a five-year deal earlier in 2016.