Birmingham boy heads south for Stamford Bridge move.
Chelsea are to sign teenage striker Daniel Sturridge from big-spending Premier League rivals Manchester City.
The fee for the 19-year-old will be decided by a tribunal with the two clubs unable to agree on a deal.
Sturridge will be out of contract at the end of June and has refused a new contract offer at Eastlands.
However, Chelsea will be liable to pay a fee as the player is under the age of 24 and therefore can not move for nothing under the Bosman ruling.
City boss Mark Hughes had been keen to keep Sturridge but would not meet what he believed to be excessive wage demands.Hughes earlier told BBC Radio Manchester: “We have made an offer which is a good offer for Daniel at this stage of his career and that was refused a couple of weeks back.” (BBC Sport)
Not sure what to make of this deal, Is it one that suits Daniel Sturridge best? Well firstly it’s a good idea to take into account just how many strikers Man City already have on their books. The likes of Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Valeri Bojinov, Darius Vassell, Jo, Benjani, Ched Evans and now Roque Santa Cruz are all International level strikers, in Vassell’s case this is stretching the point a little, but the point being Mark Hughes has far too many players on his books and Sturridge may in fact have more of a chance of carving out a career at Stamford Bridge than at Eastlands!
The fee is being haggled over and will go to an adjudication panel and the fee will probably fall into the £6-8m bracket, which could well prove to be a bargain for Chelsea given the potential the England Under 20 striker has shown.
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