Chelsea unwilling to sell wantaway midfield ace for less than €3m

Posted by

According to the Express via Nova and Telegraf, Danilo Pantic will reject a two-year contract extension, it’s also claimed that Chelsea won’t sell the midfielder for less than his €3m (£2.7m) release clause.

Telegraf report that the 23-year-old is training with boyhood club Partizan Belgrade, the side the Blues signed him from, after a loan spell at Hungarian side Fehervar was cut short in January.

The report adds that the attacking midfielder is still contracted with the Blues until 2021, with that deal including a release clause of €3m (£2.7m) and the Blues won’t accept anything less than this fee.

It seems as the Serbian youth international is desperate to get off the Blues’ books as he’s reportedly contacted the Syndicate of Professional Footballers in Serbia to try and get out of his contract.

Mirko Poledica, the president of this body, told Nova that the ace has actually rejected a contract from Chelsea that would tie him down until 2023.

Here’s what Poledica said to Nova, as per the Express:

“Chelsea have offered him an extension of his contract, which expires next year.”

“Daci [Pantic] disputed the previous period he spent in Hungary, there were some problems, but the people from Chelsea are very correct, they gave several proposals for an agreement.”

“It didn’t matter much because of the whole situation, and I tried to tell Daci how things are in Europe and the world and that he can’t expect them to get involved in his case, there are priorities, but I’m glad they offered him a contract extension.”

“They want to give him a contract, but they can’t promise him minutes.”

“Maybe they want to send him on loan again, they are patient, they are waiting, maybe they believe that one day he can be a first team player.

“He has been there for five years, they want to extend his contract until 2023 and they are interested in keeping him.”

“We helped him logistically, we contacted the club, got the information. But, he did not cross himself [make it clear] whether he wants to be a free player and ask for an engagement [with a new club] or to be bound by a contract and go on loan.

“He needs to clear up, but I told him I wouldn’t think for a second. They want to keep him and offer him conditions that no Serbian club could offer him.”

The Express also add that Pantic told Nova that he has no future in west London:

“I will certainly not return to Chelsea, I have nothing to look for there.”

This situation seems to be quite messy, the Blues will be hoping to clear things up with Pantic as soon as possible, you can’t blame the Premier League giants for refusing to budge on their valuation of the ace.

Since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2015, Pantic has been sent out on loan – which hasn’t worked out to well, the midfielder has never made a senior appearance for the Blues.

With the ace just 23 years old, there’s plenty of time for Pantic to live up the high-potential that he was destined for as a youngster, perhaps this is why Chelsea are reluctant to drop their asking price.

More Stories Danilo Pantic Partizan Belgrade