Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

Dominic Solanke's tribunal fee set to favour Liverpool over Chelsea - source

LIVERPOOL -- Dominic Solanke's status in Liverpool's side and recent international appearance should have no bearing on the fee Chelsea will receive at a tribunal, a source has told ESPN FC.

A tribunal will determine the fee Liverpool pay Chelsea for the 20-year-old after the two clubs were unable to agree a price between themselves. A date for the tribunal has yet to be confirmed.

Solanke moved to Liverpool in the summer upon the expiration of his Chelsea contract, but the current Premier League champions are in line for compensation due to the striker being under the age of 24 and the fact they offered him a new deal.

When Liverpool acquired Solanke in May, the Merseyside club hoped to pay in the region of £2-3 million, while local media suggested Chelsea wanted £10m for their academy product.

The Professional Football Compensation Committee will set Solanke's cost based on a number of factors including his playing record, the terms of the contract offered to him, the length of time at his previous club and the interest shown by other teams.

But those factors are only considered to be relevant at the date of signing, with Solanke going on to have significant career landmarks after his arrival at Liverpool on July 1.

Since moving to Anfield, Solanke, who drew interest from RB Leipzig and Celtic, has made 17 first-team appearances -- in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup -- and earned his first international cap when he appeared as a substitute in England's friendly with Brazil in November.

Solanke had been with Chelsea since the age of eight, but only played 17 minutes of first-team action and spent the 2015-16 season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem.

However, he was named the player of the tournament at this summer's Under-20 World Cup while still under contract at Chelsea.

"The rules are very clear that you look at historic fact because future outcomes are irrelevant to his value at the day you sign him," football lawyer Dan Chapman told ESPN FC.

"Liverpool's argument would be that Chelsea failed to persuade him to sign a new contract for whatever reason and, therefore, can't look to what he's done since.

"Potential isn't actually one of the factors. The difficulty Chelsea have is demonstrating is that while he was at their club, he had this level of reputation that he would be worth a fortune."

He added: "Some clubs don't understand the system. They go for what they could think on a transfer on deadline day, but that's a different test and market. With a transfer player, you hold all the cards because he's under contract. You can ask for whatever you want.

"If Chelsea were selling Solanke then I'm sure they could have got £10m. But they weren't selling him, he was a free agent."

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