Unhappy Arsenal first team players have refused to take a Kshs 3.3 billion pay cut over the next 12 months.
The 12.5% pay cut was proposed by the club’s hierarchy in order to lessen the economic effects caused by the deadly coronavirus pandemic which has afflicted the entire world.
Mesut Ozil is the biggest earner at Arsenal.
More than 115,000 people have died across the globe, with the UK set to become the most badly hit country in Europe.
Manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for COVID-19 last month and the Premier League was duly suspended indefinitely – with no games played after March 9.
While Arteta has thankfully recovered, the financial implications of the virus have hit the north London side hard and they have not collected a single gate receipt since March 7 when they were fortunate to take all three points against London rivals West Ham United.
The club had hoped to get their players to agree to a drop in their salaries between April 2020 and March 2021.
However, The Telegraph claims the squad voted on the matter on Monday afternoon and have rejected this proposal.
The proposal included an incentive which meant any player who agreed to the cut and then signed a new deal in the fate would receive the educated balance back as well as their new salary.
Another incentive was that any player sold after the virus has subsided would receive their wages cut back in full.
But a report by the Telegraph suggests the players do no anticipate much movement in the transfer market this summer given the financial implications of the virus, with the club’s top earners refusing to budge.
A 12.5% cut would equal around Kshs 3.3 billion, with the club’s wage bill standing at around Kshs 30.6 billion annually.
This includes Mesut Ozil’s Kshs 46 million -a-week wages, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are in the bracket below the top-earning German playmaker at near Kshs 26 million a week.
The PFA have advised players only to accept pay cuts if it is in the form of a deferral.
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