Tottenham hope U-turn on furloughing staff will help break impasse over player wage cuts

Daniel Levy hopes U-turn on staff will lead to agreement with players
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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP14 April 2020

Tottenham hope Monday’s U-turn over furloughing staff will help break the deadlock in talks with their players over wage cuts.

Senior Spurs players were unhappy with the club’s decision to impose 20 per cent wage cuts on all 550 non-playing staff and furlough around 40 per cent on the Government’s taxpayer-funded scheme.

The squad believed the measures were partly intended to force their hand over wage reductions, but Spurs yesterday announced a climbdown, following intense pressure from supporters.

In a statement, the club said all non-paying staff would receive “100 per cent of their pay for April and May”, with only the board now taking salary reductions. Spurs also confirmed they would not be utilising the Government furloughing scheme, although employees who are unable to work will stay on leave.

The board remain locked in talks with the squad over wage cuts, with the club desperate to reach an agreement before pay day at the end of the month.

Spurs are pushing for player wage cuts of at least 30 per cent to ease the club’s cashflow crisis and could offer a number of incentivised caveats, but the players would prefer wage deferrals, in line with advice from the players’ union, the PFA.

Tottenham’s wage bill was the sixth highest in the Premier League for 2019, at £179m, although they were among the top-flight clubs with the lowest ratio of wages to turnover, at 39 per cent.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has issued a number of warnings about the dire potential consequences of the coronavirus crisis on the game, claiming clubs “big or small” could cease to exist after the pandemic, and the hope is that his players will grasp the severity of the situation and be placated by Monday’s reversal.

Levy said: “The criticism the club received over the last week has been felt all the more keenly because of our track record of good works and our huge sense of responsibility to care for those that rely on us, particularly locally. It was never our intent, as custodians, to do anything other than put measures in place to protect jobs whilst the club sought to continue to operate in a self-sufficient manner during uncertain times.”

Levy was the highest-paid director in the Premier League in 2019, earning £7million, and it is understood the Spurs board have taken significant salary reductions, although the club refused to release a figure.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, who had applied significant pressure on the club to reverse the decision, thanked the board “for finding an alternative way forward”.

Tottenham’s decision, which followed a similar reversal from Liverpool, has increased the pressure on Arsenal not to utilise the Government scheme.

Arsenal’s players have rejected proposals for blanket 12.5 per cent wage reductions over 12 months should they miss out on Champions League qualification this season.

As part of the club’s proposals, the players would be repaid in full if Mikel Arteta’s side secure a Champions League place, while a Europa League spot would see the cuts reduced to 7.5 per cent.

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