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What happens with a first pro contract?

The very earliest a player can sign a pro contract is on their 17th birthday. They are not allowed to physically sign their pro contract or get paid a different wage before that date. Professional contracts can be offered as part of a scholarship, by tagging them on to the end if a player is deemed to be exceptional and the club doesn’t want to lose him. Usually, a club offers a pro contract to a scholar at the end of their two-year scholarship, when they are about 18 years old. Occasionally the contract might be offered as soon as they turn 17. It depends on how good the player is, and how much the club believes in him as a prospect for the future.  

Usually, the offer of a pro contract would be made towards the end of the second year of a player's scholarship, around March, April, May. The new pro contract would then start from the beginning of the following season. Typically, a pro contract would start at around £300- £350 a week, but the wages would certainly be higher in the richer Premier League clubs. It all depends on how good the player is and how highly the club rates him. For example, Raheem Sterling made a couple of appearances for the Liverpool first team, and then turned 17, and his agent was able to negotiate a £30,000 a week contract. It was because of this that Jurgen Klopp has now put a ceiling on all wages that can be paid to a 17-year-old, and some other Premier League sides have followed suit. 

Once players get to 17, pro contracts are completely negotiable, and that is when agents usually get involved. The content of the contract, and how much a player earns, depends on the club, and on how talented they think the player is. Even though players might have signed a pro contract, they will potentially still train and play with the under 18’s or the under 23’s squad. It doesn't necessarily mean that signing a pro contract automatically pushes a player straight into training with the pros in the first team, although it may if he is good enough. 

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