Toon still keen on Tammy, but cost is going up
WAGE DEMANDS PROVE BIG STUMBLING BLOCK
YET another club have entered the race to sign Newcastle United target Tammy Abraham – amid claims the 19-year-old’s representatives are demanding large additional payments beyond his basic wage.
Rafa Benitez is keen to bring Abraham, who scored 26 goals on loan at Bristol City last summer, to St James’ Park for the 2017/18 Premier League campaign and Newcastle are understood to have a season-long loan agreement in place with Chelsea.
However, the Magpies are waiting for Abraham – who also has offers from Brighton and Hove Albion, Swansea City and Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem – to make a decision on where he wants to spend the upcoming campaign.
In fact, The Sun has now linked Hull City with a move for Abraham, claiming that despite the Tigers’ relegation to the Championship, manager Leonid Slutsky’s close ties with Roman Abramovich means the recently demoted club believe they can convince Chelsea to send the forward to the KCOM Stadium.
But it is not only a whole host of other interested parties delaying any deal for Abraham to move to Tyneside, there are also suggestions that extra payments are making this season-long loan more complicated – and expensive – than was foreseen.
It is believed the Blues will offer Abraham a new contract extension worth £50,000 a week before sending the forward out on loan.
But the Mail reports that, although Chelsea will not demand a loan fee, they expect Abraham’s wages to be covered – while it is also claimed that they must fork out an additional £1m.
This extra cash will be used to pay for signing-on fees for the players, his agent and his family – while his representative, Neil Fewings of Wasserman Media Group, is also claimed to be attempting to ask any loan club to include a lucrative goal bonus in the package for next season.
Interestingly, it is also suggested that these additional demands could lead Brighton to drop out of the chase for Abraham – perhaps leaving the road clear for the striker to conclude a deal with Newcastle.
The forward is currently in Poland with the England Under-21 side, and said earlier this week his future will not be resolved until after the completion of the European Championship at the end of this month.
Chelsea are believed to prefer Abraham joining Newcastle for a season, as long as he receives assurances of regular first-team football, as they hope the pressures of playing in front of 52,000 fans at St James’ Park in the Premier League will best prepare the forward for potential first-team football at Stamford Bridge in the future.