
Originally Posted by
Syn
We don't know whether a new contract is being offered and, particularly, even if it is being offered - how much the contract is worth. If the touted figure of doubling his £25k salary is quoted, £50k a week is the going rate for Oxlade at any club. If he was a Man Utd player, that's how much he'd be on. If he was a Tottenham player, that's how much he'd be on. If he was a Chelsea player, he'd probably be on more.
I've already argued for performance-related pay and in an ideal world everyone would get paid based on how well they perform. But in absence of that, new contracts are offered on the basis of what they're likely to do rather than what they have done. That's the case everywhere. What makes people think we're pissing away a lot on youngsters is the age.
People think an 18 year old shouldn't be earning as much as a 30 year old - and that's the bottom line. But it just so happens that for our club, 18-21 year olds are important members of the squad whereas for most other clubs, this is not the case. Then your argument is that maybe this 18 year old won't turn out to be an important member of the squad...he is going to be a regular next season. There's no maybe about it..it's happening. If you want to account for risk of injuries, we shouldn't renew Van Persie's contract. What we pay them has nothing to do with age but more their role in the side.
I do think there is a mismanagement of wage handouts but not for these youngsters - more on the end of the squaddies that hardly ever play/4th choice; Djourou, Squillaci, Park, Diaby, Chamakh etc. If you think Oxlade is not going to play at least as big a role as Lennon or Downing or Valencia - in terms of how important they are for a top 4 side - then I'm sure you're in the minority.