Exclusive: Chelsea to pay Brighton record fee for a 14-year-old after Shumaira Mheuka tribunal hearing
Brighton will receive a record fee for a 14-year-old after a tribunal ruled that Chelsea must pay up to £4.25million for Shumaira Mheuka, sources have told Football Insider.
It is believed the Professional Football Compensation Committee decided at a hearing last week that the Premier League mega spenders must pay a basic fee of £1,000,000 for Mheuka, who made the move to Stamford Bridge in July 2022.
A further £250,000 is due upon the now 16-year-old striker signing a professional contract, another £250,000 upon making his professional Chelsea debut and another £250,000 will be owed should the England Under-17 international makes his full international debut.
The fee could rise by another £2.5m subject to a number of other clauses being met, based on cumulative first-team appearances.
Chelsea must pay £4.25m to Brighton for wonderkid striker Shim Mhueka
It is understood that for the full £4.3m to be due, Mheuka would need to play at least 100 games for Chelsea and receive a senior England call-up.
Moreover, Brighton will have a sell-on clause, which is understood to be between 20 and 25 per cent.
By contrast, the current British-record fee for a 14-year-old is listed by Transfermarkt as the £2million Liverpool paid to MK Dons for Sheyi Ojo.
Mheuka’s total fee package is only just short of the £4.3m that Liverpool were instructed in 2021 to pay Fulham for Harvey Elliott in a transfer completed in July 2019. Fulham announced afterwards that the “award (undisclosed) is a record amount for a 16-year-old player”.
Mheuka is regarded by Chelsea as a big talent with huge potential. He is a prolific scorer at youth-team level, with six goals in eight matches for the club’s Under-18s this season and he has five goals from just seven England Under-17 appearances.
Mheuka’s move from the south coast to Chelsea is one taken by many players, coaches and senior staff over the last two years – with recruitment chief Sam Jewell agreeing to join just last week (20 February).
The Londoners have already bolstered their behind-the-scenes team by raiding Brighton for transfer gurus Paul Winstanley and Kyle Macaulay in the last two years.
Graham Potter and his backroom staff were also poached by Chelsea in 2022 – and some of his coaches have remained at Stamford Bridge after the Englishman was sacked last year (2023).
The Blues have also signed first-team stars Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella from Brighton in recent years – with the former costing a reported British-record fee of £115million.
In other news, Chelsea plot stunning move for Harry Kane after Bayern Munich feedback.
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