Chelsea ‘paying little known youth player £20,000-a-week’

The Daily Mail says Danish centre-half Andreas Christensen pockets the £1m annual salary despite having only turned 18 last week.Christensen is considered one of the most outstanding talents for his age in the world but has only made the Chelsea bench once – as an unused substitute in Rafa Benitez’s final game in charge against Everton last season.Chelsea beat off competition from a host of clubs to sign Christensen from Brondby before the 2012/13 season with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Barcelona said to have been interested.According to Chelsea' s official website, Christensen is a "tall, ball-playing centre-back whose game is similar in style to Ricardo Carvalho, his father is a former professional goalkeeper."Christensen has helped Chelsea reach the FA Cup Youth semi-final where they hold a 2-1 advantage over Arsenal after the first-leg of their last four tie.The second-leg takes place on Thursday evening at the Emirates, with Fulham awaiting the winners in the final.Chelsea are known for handsomely paying young players but many have struggled to break into the first-team.Midfielder Josh McEachran is one such example. After making a few promising appearances under Carlo Ancelotti in 2010, the midfielder was handed a contract worth £38,000-a-week.However, since then he has struggled to make much of an impact and has spent time on loan at Swansea, Middlesbrough, Watford and current side Wigan Athletic.Now 21, he is not expected to play for Chelsea's first team again.Nemanja Matic is another who struggled to break through into Chelsea's first team while a youth player.Matic was then sold to Benfica in 2011 as part of the deal that saw David Luiz come to the club, only for Chelsea to pay the Portuguese side £21m to resign the Serbian in 2014.(uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)ANN.Az