PREMIER LEAGUE stars are facing a potential £100millon-plus pay cut — to keep lower-league clubs alive.
Emergency talks between the PFA, Prem and EFL have been held to draft a survival strategy for football in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Prem stars used to the high life could take a collective £100m pay cut to help lower league clubs survive
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With many lower division clubs teetering on the brink, it appears an across-the-board salary cut may now be inevitable.
No agreement has been made yet with Premier League sides and bigger Championship clubs, who are not in the same financial dire straits as some.
But the hope is a relief fund will filter down the leagues to those who need it.
Wages up to the end of this month are not thought to be at risk.
But while some clubs are reluctant to take the dramatic step at this stage, there is a growing recognition sacrifices will have to be made.
And a 20 per cent pay cut for all players to cover the next three months — with football unlikely to resume before July — is understood to have been mooted.
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With the Prem’s annual pay bill just over £2billion, such a move would see top-flight players giving up some £105m in total.
That would cost top-paid stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Paul Pogba, Mesut Ozil, Mo Salah and England skipper Harry Kane in the region of £750,000 each.
A joint statement from the union and two leagues read: “The Premier League, EFL and PFA met today and discussed the growing seriousness of Covid-19. We agreed that difficult decisions will have to be taken to mitigate the economic impact of the current suspension of football in England.
“And we agreed to work together to arrive at shared solutions.”
SunSport columnist Simon Jordan called for the Prem’s multi-millionaires to foot the bill and save football clubs down the ladder in his weekly column on Wednesday.
Now it seems all parties accept that a pay cut is needed, even if that means merely deferring wages for a period of time.
That money could be used to support clubs and players — plus backroom and part-time staff.
The statement added: “The leagues will not restart until April 30 at the earliest. Meetings will take place next week to formulate a joint plan.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
