Chelsea want £10m for Dominic Solanke as Liverpool transfer tribunal looms

Chelsea want a £10m compensation fee from Liverpool to complete the signing of striker Dominic Solanke this summer, according to The Evening Standard. The Premier League champions are entitled to a fee for the home-grown star despite the 19-year-old, who will join up with his new side on 1 July having agreed personal terms, being out of contract but their fresh demands are likely to see the dispute go to a tribunal.

The Merseysiders have already had a bid of £3m rejected by the Blues and are unlikely to cave to their demands, which were initially set to be around £8m. If a fee cannot be agreed an independent panel, called the Professional Football Compensation Committee, comprising of a chairman and two individuals from the Premier League or Football League will rule on the fee, taking into account a series of factors.

Solanke moved to Stamford Bridge aged seven and bar a loan spell with Vitesse Arhem last season has spent his entire footballing education with Chelsea. He has made just one first team appearance in that time however but has won the FA Youth Cup in 2014 and 2015, as well the Uefa Youth League.

Recent developments could yet prove crucial to Chelsea's hopes of receiving the full £10m for Solanke. He won the golden ball prize, awarded to the best player of the tournament, as England won the Under-20 World Cup by beating Venezuela in South Korea. The honour has previously been won by the likes of Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba and will surely enhance his profile.

Furthermore, Solanke has made over half a century of outings for England youth sides and has been capped at Under-21 level three times. Though his exposure to club football is few and far between his development at international level could be enough to justify Chelsea's demands.

Other factors the panel will take into account are the market value for players of his age and ability, the amount of interest shown, the financial commitments made by a club towards his development and the chasm between both valuations. Chelsea paid £6.5m to Manchester City for Daniel Sturridge six months after he joined the club in July 2009 and will hope to prove that Solanke has greater potential and market value than the now Liverpool forward.

Liverpool were forced to pay a record tribunal fee last summer when the panel ruled Danny Ings' move from Burnley to Anfield would cost an initial £6.5m, with add-ons bringing the deal to £8m. The Clarets convinced the ruling panel that interest from Tottenham Hotspur and a future England appearance earned after leaving Turf Moor, had swelled his valuation.

But unlike Solanke, Ings had begun his career with AFC Bournemouth where he came through as a youngster, prior to moving to Burnley. Ings went onto make his England debut three months after moving to Liverpool against Lithuania in October before suffering the first of two cruciate knee ligament injuries which have derailed his career.