Agent accuses Chiefs of offering Blom ‘peanuts’ as new contract talks stall

With the talks of a contract renewal between Kaizer Chiefs and defender Njabulo Blom reported to have hit a snag, his manager Rob Moore has explained what the hold up is. 

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In an interview on Metro FM on Wednesday evening, Moore came out with guns blazing putting the blame on Chiefs for trying to shortchange Blom. 

Moore said he had been in so many negotiations in his career that he cannot make unreasonable demands for his players.

“I would like to say this, and really I am not trying to sound arrogant, and it must not be taken the wrong way. 

“But I have been in this game a little while. When it comes to negotiations I like to do my research, I like to have certain yardsticks I measure against,” said Moore. 

“I like to look at the market, the players’ value… I like to look at factors like the age, potential and position of the player because I know that attackers earn more money than goalkeepers or defenders, for example. 

“That comes into it, whether or not the club had to pay a transfer fee for that player. What can this club afford? How big is the club? What is its budget? 

“And most importantly, what are they paying other players at this club? You get an idea here and there, and you pick up how much others earn.

“I have negotiated other contracts with the same club, so I have an idea of the numbers. I don’t think we suck numbers out of our thumbs, we go with what we think is relative and reasonably having taken all these factors into account,” explained Moore.

He then made an example of how lowly Blom is paid compared to other players in the team who are not even playing regularly and making limited contributions to the team.

“Let me make an example, let’s compare Player X to Blom. Player X has not been a regular and has not represented the national team at senior level, Blom has. 

“But Player X is much older than Blom. And Kaizer Chiefs pay Player X five times more than they pay Blom. 

“And what their latest offer says is that Blom will only be earning 50% of what Player X gets, now does that sound reasonable? 

“Does that sound like Blom is asking for fantasy numbers? Or does that sound like a guy who looks at things and says, ‘something is not right here…’ Is this maybe a situation where because I am an academy player coming through the ranks I have to earn less than others even though I have achieved more at a younger age?”

Blom has suddenly been dropped from the team in Chiefs’ recent games and there have been murmurs that this is due to the protracted contract negotiations. 

Moore defended Blom, saying he is not the kind of player to cause trouble in the team and is just standing up for what he feels he should be earning.

“This does not sound like a guy with a bad attitude or is a rotten apple in the team. I think what we are asking for is reasonable,” said Moore.