Midfielder’s £150,000 demands show Chelsea wage structure is already creaking | OneFootball

Chelsea’s pursuit of Moises Caicedo this summer saw the club totally reveal its hand, and pay the price.

It was so obvious that the Blues wanted their man that they not only ended up paying full price, they in fact ended up paying more than Brighton had originally asked for, just to keep Liverpool’s interest at bay.

The same was likely true of Caicedo’s contract – once the player and his agent know the lengths and the expense that the club had gone to to get him in, they weren’t going to go easy on salary demands.

It seems like they got the Ecuador star a weekly wage of around £150,000, setting a level of expectation for other players in the squad. Now 90 min report that Conor Gallagher wants a similar number to extend his deal, which expires in 18 months.

It’s a fair request – he’s had a better season than Caicedo, he’s home grown, and the club didn’t have to pay him a penny. If they don’t stump up now and Gallagher leaves, there will be a lot of people pretty unhappy with how the whole situation has been dealt with.

If Caicedo goes to be worth the £115m and the £150,000 a week, great. If not, and we lost another good midfielder along the way, that’s pretty concerning.