Premier League stars stand firm and say they will NOT be forced into taking pay cut

The Premier League’s players remain adamant they will not be forced into taking pay cuts by their clubs following fresh talks this week.

But they are willing to discuss deferrals on the condition that they are guaranteed to get their money back.

Top-flight players are in no mood to back down and accept salary reductions due to coronavirus leaving their clubs facing frustration.

Following Saturday’s meeting to discuss the league’s 30 per cent wage cut proposal which ended in stalemate, conversations have continued among players to finalise their stance on the issue.

A further video conference involving all Premier League’s 20 captains, with Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson again at the forefront, and each club’s PFA representative has taken place this week along with calls involving smaller groups of players.

And collectively they insist that no player should accept any request from their club to take home a lower salary.

While top-flight chiefs were keen to bring in a league-wide proposal, there is a growing belief that a better approach might be for each club to handle their own situations.

As reported by Sportsmail on Monday, some lesser-paid players are reluctant to agree to wage reductions as any drop will hit them harder than the higher-paid stars at bigger clubs.

There have also been concerns raised at clubs with relegation fears about their players suffering a reduction now and then another one if they fall into the Championship due to relegation wage drop clauses in their contracts. 

The PFA have questioned whether clubs genuinely need to make any cuts, with chief executive Gordon Taylor confident clubs have the money to pay their staff for the rest of the season.

That belief is shared by many of the players who feel the onus should not be on them to find the solution to the game’s cash crisis.

While they are keen to do their bit, especially to support the NHS, the pressure placed on them to sacrifice money, from both inside and outside of the game – including Health Secretary Matt Hancock – has not gone down well increasing their defiance and strengthening their determination to ensure that any gestures are on their own terms.

That is shown in their willingness across the league to hold talks with their clubs about deferring parts of their salaries to help out but only on the condition that all of the money was certain to be returned at a later date.

That would differ slightly to the Premier League proposal. Players would only receive all their money back if all remaining matches were played in stadiums with crowds and there were no refunds due to broadcasters.

The expectation is that when football returns games will be played behind closed doors. 

The row about players’ taking pay cuts came into the spotlight when Health Secretary Matt Hancock demanded that Premier League stars ‘play their part’ in the fight against coronavirus.

He said: ‘I think that everybody needs to play their part in this national effort and that means Premier League footballers too.

‘Given the sacrifices that many people are making including some of my colleagues in the NHS who have made the ultimate sacrifice of going into work and have caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part.’ 

But his comments were immediately followed by backlash from both present and past players, including the likes of Gary Neville and Gary Lineker. 

Players questioned whether Hancock fully understood the issues of how much tax would be lost when he called on wage cut for Premier League stars.

They also weren’t happy that Hancock appeared to be encouraging the perception that footballers all live gilded lifestyles and don’t give anything back to society.   

Crystal Palace’s Andros Townsend accusing Hancock of ‘deflecting blame’ onto footballers by painting them as ‘villains’ at a time when most NHS workers can’t get tested for coronavirus.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney questioned why footballers were even in Hancock’s head when he criticised them and added: ‘Was he desperate to divert attention from his government’s handling of this pandemic?’

Meanwhile, Sky Sports pundit Neville accused Hancock of having a ‘f***ing cheek’ for his comments.

He wrote on Twitter: ‘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!’ 

Furthermore, Lineker believes scrutiny should be moved away from the Premier League. 

‘Why not call on all the wealthy to try and help if they possibly can rather than just pick on footballers?,’ Lineker told BBC One.

‘They’ve always been easy game in many ways. Nobody seems to talk about the bankers, the CEOs, huge millionaires. Are they standing up? Are they being asked to stand up? We don’t know.

‘Footballers do an extraordinary amount of good in the community, lots of them will already be giving in their own silent ways and I know that plans are afoot to make their contributions to society.

‘The players I’ve spoken to are all desperately keen to do it. The problem is how you do it. It’s obviously complicated and it takes time. People are always quick to jump on the judgemental high horse, certainly when it comes to footballers but lots of them do lots of really good things and I’m sure they’ll continue to do so.

‘I expect an announcement to come in the next few days, the next week or so.’