And there's us with not a pot....
Chelsea are at the centre of another international transfer controversy after luring the highly rated teenager Nathan Ake from the Dutch club Feyenoord.
The Londoners are understood to have come to an agreement, thought to be worth around £230,000, with the Rotterdam club over the transfer of the 15-year-old, who has also attracted the attention of Manchester City. The boy is expected to sign a professional contract at Stamford Bridge when he turns 16, in February.
Without naming Chelsea specifically, Feyenoord's sporting director, Leo Beenhakker, expressed his dismay at how Premier League clubs are, in his view, taking young players from their clubs before their 16th birthdays.
"It's driving me crazy that hot prospects are walking away from us like this," Beenhakker said. "The Premier League clubs spoil the market with their behaviour. Other clubs in Europe aren't doing this kind of things, but the English sides just don't care.
"It's obviously bad news for Feyenoord. We can't do anything about it if a foreign club comes up to sign one of our youngsters."
A Chelsea spokesman claimed the club had been closely working with Feyenoord throughout negotiations and said everything was above board. "We have kept Feyenoord abreast of our interest and as such we have reached an agreement with them," he added.
Ake joins a long list of young overseas players who have been lured to Chelsea, among them Patrick van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma, Fabio Borini, Jacopo Sala and Gaël Kakuta, whose signing in 2007 resulted in a transfer ban – since overturned – after his previous club, Lens, reported the Londoners for "tapping up" the player.
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At 15 I'm guessing that this player is unlikely to have been payed much (in any) money. He is still a child and at the risk of being over dramatic it seems a bit too much like slavery if an external entity has the right to 'sell' the services of a 15 year old.
As I say if the club was really making something from nothing then fair enough but if the player has the talent then if the club demand to make money from it before he is old enough to sign a legally binding contract it seems a little unfair to me.
This is especially true when you think that the alternative to moving on is to be earning a lot less than he is worth to benefit a company.
I do understand the other view and I was as happy as the next man when we were awarded money for the Defoe incident with West Ham, but I'm just not sure quite where I stand on the issue.
As for the club official having ago at the Premier League clubs, that's nothing new, most of Europe hate us for what ever reason, and they never seem to miss an opportunity to have a pop at us.