West Ham United are standing their ground as Conor Coventry’s advisors demand the club break their Under-23 wage system to tie the youth star down to a new deal.
According to reports, Base Soccer, Coventry’s agents, want their client to be making at least £5,000-a-week, double what West Ham usually pay their more advanced youth talents.
Even when Declan Rice first broke through as a regular Premier League player, he was earning just £2,500-a-week before signing a bumper six-year contract.
The Hammers are happy to let any fee be set by a Tribunal should it lead to Coventry leaving over his wage demands.
Read West Ham’s verdict
Coventry is currently one of the club’s most prized youth assets, but it’d be wrong to break a largely successful wage system for a player who is yet to make a single Premier League appearance.
It only seems like a matter of time before he truly gets his big break in the first team, so you can partly see why his advisors’ believe he’s worth more than the usual billing.
Hopefully, a fee is eventually agreed because it’d be a great shame to see such a talented starlet depart over his advisors’ wage demands, but it’s a real possibility.
