With the stand-off over his contract renewal rumbling on unresolved since last April, promising Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke seems to have one foot out Cobham's door already. Even Antonio Conte has confirmed that Solanke desires to leave the club. Unsurprisingly, a whole host of teams are already in the running for his services with Solanke’s agent no doubt stoking all the right fires in the background.
According to the Daily Mail, German giants Bayern Munich are the latest to get in line for the 19-year-old’s signature. They are the first team outside Britain to be supposedly interested, joining ... deep breath ... Arsenal, Celtic, Rangers, Everton, Sunderland and West Ham. Liverpool were linked last week as well, by The Sun, but the Mail claim that the Reds are instead looking at other options, such as wingers Julian Brandt and Demarai Gray, who play for Bayer Leverkusen and Leicester City, respectively.
While none of the teams rumored so far are apparently ready to meet Solanke's £50,000 per week wage demands, they are hoping to take advantage of a (possibly) sour relationship between the player and Chelsea. That said, Ola Aina was in a similar situation last season (with smaller demands, probably) and he ended up re-signing after his contract had expired.
Just a gentle reminder for when you're reading certain headlines today/in general... pic.twitter.com/cqE1XZYsCp
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) February 17, 2017
Should Solanke not re-sign, Chelsea would look gain around £8 million from his transfer to another English club. His fee would be set by the Professional Football Compensation Committee, i.e. the “tribunal”. However, should Solanke choose to move abroad, his new club would only have to pay £300,000 in fees for his services via solidarity payments.
Either way, it’s a bit of a shame that the situation has devolved to this point. Not all hope is lost, but Solanke’s future is looking likely to not involve Chelsea anymore.