Chelsea star demands salary hike after Blues make fresh contract offer: Reports

Jorginho has reportedly demanded a salary hike as fresh contract talks begin with Chelsea. The Italian midfielder wants to be on par with Cesar Azpilicueta, who penned a new contract in the summer.

A report in the Evening Standard claims Jorginho initially agreed to £120,000 per week as his new wage under the fresh contract. However, those demands have now been increased to £150,000 per week.

The former Napoli star is in the final year of his contract at Chelsea and is the club's vice-captain. He is keen to stay at the club but has laid out his demands before penning the new contract.

His agent, Joao Santos, spoke to TuttoMercatoWeb earlier this month and confirmed that the midfielder wanted to stay at Stamford Bridge. He was quizzed about the Barcelona rumors and was quoted by the Evening Standard as saying:

"I work in football, I have been to Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, but also in other parts such as Lyon. I'm Jorginho's agent, I may have talked about him but also about others.

"We prioritise Chełsea and we are moving towards it. Another priority for Jorginho is to do well with the national team."

Chelsea have two key midfielders heading out as free agents

Chelsea lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen as free agents in the summer of 2022, and a similar scenario could be repeated in 2023.

Along with Joginho, N'Golo Kante also has his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that no deal has been agreed with both players. He told CaughtOffside:

"Chełsea fans have been asking me for updates, but I'm afraid there's nothing agreed yet with N'Golo Kante and Jorginho. Both of them are still in talks with Chełsea but it's not something close as of now.

"It will also depend on the board. As we know, Barcelona will monitor many free agents ahead of next summer, but they say it's too early to see what happens on this situations regarding specific targets."

Kante and Jorginho have been a vital part of Chelsea's first team ever since their respective arrivals at the club.