Rumour Mill: Barkley Wants Higher Wage Than Kane?

According to The Daily Mirror, Tottenham target Ross Barkley is demanding £150,000 per week to join Tottenham, a £90,000 increase on his current Everton deal.

It is largely expected that Barkley will leave Everton during the current transfer window, as the 23 year old midfielder has been unwilling to sign a new contract at Goodison Park, especially while Spurs seem to be sniffing around for the Englishman’s signature.

Although Tottenham will refuse to pay as high a fee as the £50 million Ronald Koeman is hoping to make from Barkley’s sale, both sides are reportedly expecting to reach a compromise in the coming weeks.

However, a new complication has arose in the shape of Barkley’s £150,000 weekly wage demands, which are excessive to say the very least.

At Tottenham, a strict wage structure is in place to keep a financial balance, which sees the club’s highest earners Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris on roughly £100,000 per week, which is relatively tame by today’s standards.

Compare that to Sergio Aguero’s £240,000 per week, or Cesc Fabregas’ £220,000 per week, as reported by The Daily Mail as of February 2017, and it is rather low for a title challenging team.

According to The Daily Mirror, Ross Barkley is demanding 150% of the club’s top earners weekly wage bill, which could see the deal eventually fall-through, as there’s no way Daniel Levy would allow Barkley to be paid anything close to what Lloris and Kane have earned for themselves.

Barkley did not have the best of campaign’s last season, scoring only 6 goals and assisting 8 times in 39 appearances in all competitions, and it is unlikely Spurs will reward him with a contract that dramatically raises his wages.

Though, according to The Evening Standard there’s much less cause for concern, as Barkley is apparently very excited by the prospect of working with Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

During international duty, it is said that Barkley has been given glittering reviews of the Argentinian manager by England team-mates Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, which is the sole driving force behind his desire to join Spurs, not the financial gain.

The article also reveals that Barkley may be set for an increase to the 60k he was picking up at Everton, but will not achieve a parity with the club’s top earners, so he’s likely to land somewhere in-between £60,000-£90,000.

How much would you pay Barkley? Would you give him what he’s asking for or risk harsher negotiations?

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