World Cup 2018: Chelsea eyeing £30m swoop for Jack Butland with Stoke to offer £20,000-per-week pay rise to fend off interest
Blues look set to lose goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois this summer and are looking at Butland as his replacement
JACK BUTLAND will be offered a staggering £20,000-per-week pay rise to fend off interest from Chelsea.
The Stamford Bridge club see him as an ideal replacement for Thibaut Courtois who looks increasingly likely to leave for Real Madrid with only a year left on his contract.
England No 2 Butland is also on Jurgen Klopp’s radar at Liverpool and there is keen interest in him from Germany.
Stoke City would be certain of at least £30million for the 25-year-old but would lose around 25% of any fee to the goalkeeper’s former club Birmingham City.
New Potters boss Gary Rowett would much prefer to invest in a new deal for Butland having been given a massive budget to bounce the relegated club straight back into the Prem.
Butland, currently contracted until 2021 on £60,000 per year, is understood to be interested in committing his future to Stoke.
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His representatives are due to meet with the club over the next two days to try to hammer out an agreement.
Rowett has already begun spending after replacing Paul Lambert and paid £12M to Wolves for striker Benik Afobe.
He also wants to offer the same £80,000 a week deal as that on the table for Butland to £15M Newcastle target Matt Ritche.
Following the departure of No 2 goalkeeper Lee Grant to Manchester United he signed Adam Federici from Bournemouth.
Full back Moritz Bauer, brought in from Rubin Kazan in January, has now signed a new five year deal.
Rowett and Stoke are determined to take the gamble of throwing money at instant promotion.
They hope to prove to Butland that despite his growing list of suitors that the best way to ultimately overtake Jordan Pickford as England’s No 1 is to stay at the bet 365.
