Everything that is wrong with modern English football in a nutshell..

Premier League - Chelsea teen 'will earn £1.7m before 20th birthday'
Chelsea youth player Ruben Loftus-Cheek will reportedly earn £1.7m before his 20th birthday regardless of whether he ever makes the grade at Stamford Bridge, but is nonetheless embroiled in a contract row.

The Sunday Mirror report that the 17-year-old midfielder, who has been at the club since the age of eight and is reckoned to be one of English football’s brightest prospects, will earn a basic salary of around £7,000 a week. He has also pocketed a signing-on fee of £375,000, and will be eligible for loyalty bonuses worth a further £350,000 over the next few years.

But his agent, Joseph Donkor, has taken Chelsea to an FA tribunal to win £1.3m in unpaid fees, the paper adds, believing he had an agreement with the club to negotiate Loftus-Cheek’s first professional deal, with a substantial commission at stake.

A Chelsea spokesman said: “The FA rules contain strict confidentiality obligations and prohibit the club or any other party under the jurisdiction of the FA from commenting on arbitration issues.”

The deal for Loftus-Cheek’s first contract is the largest ever awarded by Chelsea for a home-grown junior player – and was so substantial that owner Roman Abramovich had to sign it off himself.

Beyond the guaranteed sums, there are equally substantial bonuses should Loftus-Cheek progress from the youth ranks to the first team. He will pocket £10,000 per start for Chelsea’s first-team, and half as much if he appears as a substitute, while England Under-21 appearances would net £5,000 each time, with an extra £1,000 on top should he captain the side.

Once he had made five appearances for the club, Chelsea would be obligated to negotiate a new (and presumably improved) contract with the teenager.

Loftus-Cheek has reportedly attracted interest from the likes of the two Manchester clubs and even Barcelona.

He has yet to make a first-team appearance, and his last action for the club was in the Chelsea Under-21s 0-1 defeat to Everton.

Done £#%&!-all of note, achieved nothing in the game at any decent level and look at that shit. And we wonder why young English footballers are such insufferable, thick, arrogant @#%&!s.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek?! £#%&! off!

big rubes needs to gets paid

Originally Posted by Ginners

big rubes needs to gets paid

I was going to put in hidden text that "ginners will be along to say how great this all is", but that would have been too obvious.

Thread title is a bit misleading tbf

Originally Posted by lookingforeric

Thread title is a bit misleading tbf

new to sparky?

Originally Posted by Ethers

Ruben Loftus-Cheek?! £#%&! off!

his name is more scandalous than his wages, imo.

he would have been playing half-back for harlequins 15 years ago, the soppy @#%&!.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

his agent

And there's the real issue

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

his name is more scandalous than his wages, imo.

he would have been playing half-back for harlequins 15 years ago, the soppy @#%&!.

double-barreled surnames aren't posh any more. they just mean your parents split up and you don't know which name to choose.

"Everything that is wrong with modern English football players in a nutshell.."

Originally Posted by lookingforeric

Thread title is a bit misleading tbf

Agreed, there's nothing about out-of-towners latching onto big clubs for a bit of glory

Nevermind youngsters being #@&%!y and thick, this kind of cash for a 17 year old is why so many 'potential superstars' disappear. Wheres the motivation when you are already a millionaire before age 20?

Chelsea have had Roman's cash for 10 years now, investing heavily into their youth setup. Name one decent youngster from their academy? Michael Bloody mancienne? #headsgone

McEachran could have been special but he didnt really need to bother once he got that £30k a week deal.

it exemplifies the greed that is killing our game from top to bottom.

it then gets transferred over to the ticket prices, the tv companies who then charge the fans & everything else football produces. It's why english footballers are ludicrously over priced.

Originally Posted by saffers

Nevermind youngsters being #@&%!y and thick, this kind of cash for a 17 year old is why so many 'potential superstars' disappear. Wheres the motivation when you are already a millionaire before age 20?

Chelsea have had Roman's cash for 10 years now, investing heavily into their youth setup. Name one decent youngster from their academy? Michael Bloody mancienne? #headsgone

McEachran could have been special but he didnt really need to bother once he got that £30k a week deal.

spot on mate.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

it exemplifies the greed that is killing our game from top to bottom.

it then gets transferred over to the ticket prices, the tv companies who then charge the fans & everything else football produces. It's why english footballers are ludicrously over priced.

I thought you didn't give a shit about lower league football

Thought we already had a thread about your blog?

Originally Posted by silv

I thought you didn't give a shit about lower league football

I don't.

What the £#%&! is happening to Sparky? He sounds more and more like he's finally woken up to what happened in the early to mid 90s in English football

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

What the £#%&! is happening to Sparky? He sounds more and more like he's finally woken up to what happened in the early to mid 90s in English football

seems like hes on a bit of a crusade to fix football