Wolves and Aston Villa set for talks over wages following Premier League meeting
Wolves and Villa are set for talks with players over a potential 30 per cent wage cut to protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.
It follows a meeting on Friday in which all 20 Premier League clubs agreed unanimously to consult their playing squads regarding combination of conditional pay reductions and deferrals.
Further talks are expected on Saturday between the league, PFA and player representatives with the aim of protecting employment “throughout the professional game”.
The subject of players taking wage cuts or deferrals came under the spotlight this week after some top flight clubs, including Newcastle and Tottenham, placed non-playing staff on furlough under the government’s job retention scheme, while continuing to pay their players in full.
The Premier League has now agreed to immediately commit £20million to support the NHS, communities, families and vulnerable groups during the pandemic.
Yesterday’s meeting also saw clubs agree to push back their planned return date of April 30. Both the Premier League and EFL have now joined the National League in suspending the season indefinitely, with an acknowledgement football can only return when it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Encouragingly for Albion, who sit second in the Championship, there remains a commitment to completing the current season.
The Premier League have been warned by Uefa it risks losing its Champions League and Europa League places next season should it declare the season over prematurely.
