Chelsea have made moves to secure the £45million signing of Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, only to be stunned by his wage demands.
After losing out to Real Madrid on the signing of Kaka, owner Roman Abramovich is determined to flex his muscles in the transfer market and has turned his attention to the explosive 21-year-old Argentina striker.
Intermediaries have held talks, but the two parties are haggling over wages. Aguero, who would smash the British record fee of £34m for Manchester City’s Robinho, is demanding a salary of £6.5m a year after tax, which means Chelsea would have to pay him nearly £11m a season.
Aguero is engaged to Diego Maradona’s daughter, Giannina, and is the father of his first grandchild, Benjamin Aguero Maradona, who was born in Madrid in February.
The 5ft 7in striker, who was expected to miss his country’s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Ecuador later tonight with a thigh strain, scored 17 goals in La Liga last season.
