Premier League clubs have all agreed to discuss their players taking wage cuts or deferrals of up to 30 per cent wage after their latest round of talks on Friday.
As exclusively revealed by Sportsmail today, Manchester United became the first top flight club to slash their salaries, sacrificing 30 per cent of their wages for one month with the understanding that it will go to hospitals and health centres throughout Manchester in the fight against coronavirus.
Similar moves are now set to be echoed across the league following Friday’s video conference involving all 20 clubs.
Premier League clubs made some big calls at a crunch video conference meeting on Friday
Premier League stakeholders met via video link Friday to decide ongoing coronavirus issues
The Premier League have also voted to advance the EFL and National League’s £125m payment as they continue to battle the effects of the coronavirus.
And the top flight clubs have also agreed to make a £20m donation to the NHS, local communities, families and groups who have been affected by the coronavirus crisis.
The future of the league season was also high on the agenda, and it was decided that the Premier League and Football League will not return ‘until it is safe to do so’.
In the Premier League’s statement, they wrote: ‘The restart date is under constant review with all stakeholders, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic develops and we work together through this very challenging time.’
Top flight chiefs also confirmed there will be a further meeting with the PFA on Saturday, in which they will continue to discuss matters relating to the coronavirus.
Earlier, United’s big decision came an hour and a half into Friday’s crunch meeting, with Sportsmail revealing that the portion of players’ wages are going to be used to benefit hospitals and health centres throughout Manchester in the fight against the coronavirus.
Captain Harry Maguire was approached by chairman Ed Woodward about the idea. The England defender opened up the initiate to the rest of the senior squad, who are believed to have overwhelmingly agreed.
Manchester United became the first side in the Premier League to cut their players’ salaries
United captain Harry Maguire was addressed by chairman Ed Woodward about the proposal
Heading into Friday’s discussion, there was much pressure being applied by fans, politicians and former professionals on players to take a hefty wage cut.
Clubs have come under heavy scrutiny for utilising the government’s furlough scheme for their non-playing staff, while still allowing their players to take home, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of pounds a week.
Eddie Howe became the first Premier League figure to take a significant cut to his wages earlier in the week, and the Bournemouth boss was followed by his Brighton counterpart Graham Potter shortly after.
Tottenham in particular came under fire for their use of the furlough scheme, placing all of their 550 non-playing staff on it and leaving the government to foot the bill.
The timing was extraordinarily bad too, given that it coincided with the club releasing their financial figures. While the least well-paid employees of the club take home 80 per cent of their wages, it was revealed that chairman Daniel Levy earned an extra £3m on top of his £4m salary for overseeing the completion of the club’s new stadium.
On Thursday, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe was the first top-flight manager to take a pay-cut
Football clubs up and down the country are locked and there is no football on the horizon
Tottenham were slammed for not lowering the wages of their players, as it was revealed it would only need a 2.77 per cent cut of their pay to cover a £30,000-a-year wage for every one of the club’s 550 non-playing staff.
On the subject, the club’s former manager Harry Redknapp told The Sun: ‘I can’t believe it. Surely players should be taking a cut. This isn’t for big clubs like Tottenham.
‘I thought the Government were going to pay ordinary people who are struggling and help small businesses who are struggling. But you are talking here about a club where their players earn £10-12million a year.
‘Tottenham are owned by Joe Lewis, one of the richest men in the world, and his club are cutting the wages of all their non-football staff by 20 per cent. I can’t believe it.’
Gary Lineker, meanwhile, directed his anger towards the clubs rather than the players, insisting they had put their stars in an extremely difficult position by paying them in full while furloughing non-playing staff.
Speaking to Sky News, Lineker said: ‘It is now up to the players how they respond. Lets give them a chance to respond before this hugely judgemental pile-on we always get nowadays.
‘Footballers are always an easy target. I hate whataboutery but where are the big businessmen, where are the CEO’s of these enormous companies. What are they doing at the moment?
‘Nobody ever seems to care about them but footballers, who do an unbelievable amount of good in the community generally that never gets reported on, who do lots of things to raise awareness during these difficult times.
Wage cuts for players in the Premier League have finally been agreed following much criticism
‘So let’s wait and see and see where they go. I’ll be the first in a few weeks time to criticise them if they do nothing.’
The Premier League’s decision to wait and make a collective judgment came amid fears they could have lost their star names for free in the summer.
It was reported earlier in the week that the 20 Premier League clubs were worried about breaching their players’ contracts if they put their head above the parapet and made a decision regarding wage cuts without the agreement of the other clubs.
It was believed that players could then cite loss of earnings and break free from their contracts to leave for pastures new in the summer.
Although the Premier League have now taken action and will discuss 30 per cent cuts or deferrals, they are the last top European league to put plans in place.
Over in Spain this week, it has been a massive talking point, with Barcelona’s players taking a 70 per cent pay cut, as announced by Lionel Messi on his social media.
In the Bundesliga in Germany, both players and directors at Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have taken 20 per cent pay cuts, while Union Berlin – who sit 11th in the table – have agreed to go entirely without wages.
Borussia Monchengladbach’s players were the first in the country to offer to forgo wages, while the league’s big four – Dortmund, Bayern, Leipzig and Leverkusen, have all ploughed £17.7m each into a fund to help the second tier clubs who will struggle more than them in the coming months.
In Italy, meanwhile, Juventus players have waived four months’ wages in a move that could see Cristiano Ronaldo give up over £9m of his money to help the cause.
Politicians like Sadiq Khan and Matt Hancock were quick to condemn Premier League footballers for their lack of action, but Gary Neville slammed the latter in a sweary rant.
He said: ‘I wish I was a player for 10 more mins. The PL players are more than likely working on a proposal to help clubs, communities and the NHS. It takes longer than 2 weeks to put together.
‘Matt Hancock calling them out when he can’t get tests in place for NHS staff is a f@@@@@g cheek!’