Players need to stand firm and shouldn’t feel pressured to take wage cut, asserts Roy Keane
Manchester United legend Roy Keane has urged players to not succumb to the pressure and take a wage cut in what are obviously dire circumstances for clubs. While the La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 clubs have come to an agreement, the Premier League has yet to do the same over wage cuts.
That may cause a few problems going down the line especially as the suspension goes on with the world trying to fight the COVID-19 virus. However, while a few clubs have taken charge of their decisions and come to an agreement with their players over wage cuts or deferrals, it hasn’t been something that has been implemented by the league.
While there has been talks between the PFA and the Premier League to try and implement wage cuts, they haven’t come to an agreement. However, in an interview recently, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has admitted that contracts between a player and a club are personal matters and the pressure is immense on players at the bigger clubs to take a cut. Keane also added that players shouldn’t bow down to the pressure and instead need to stick to their guns.
"There is pressure on players at the really big clubs, clubs with wealthy owners, to take pay cuts. The way I look at it now, particularly after the way I left Manchester United, I wouldn't take a pay cut from anybody if I was at one of the bigger clubs. I know there is pressure on players, but it is nobody's business what you do with your wages," Keane told The Football Show.
“You take your wages and if you want to be generous, go ahead and do it. I don't think players should feel pressured by clubs, particularly the bigger clubs, to take pay cuts. They have signed a contract, and your contract with a club is a personal matter. This idea that all players should take a pay cut, or that all the players have to do this, I think that is nonsense. It's up to the individual.
"If they want to stick to their guns and say they want their full wages when you've got a billionaire in the background, do it. Don't be swayed by some sort of pressure from the media, who write lies anyway about certain players,"
Players in the English top tier have been asked and are under discussion to take a wage cut with the likes of Arsenal, Watford, Chelsea and a few others already coming to an agreement. However, Keane further added that the players are well within their rights to ask their clubs to honor their contracts even given the times that they are in right now.
"When I was at Nottingham Forest or Manchester United, negotiating new deals or leaving the club, the club made it pretty clear to me on any aspect of contract negotiations that it was a business, and I understood that. But I signed a contract, and I expected the club to honour that contract.
“I know circumstances have changed but I am speaking about the clubs that have the money available. When the clubs with billionaire owners in the background come to the players and say they are in trouble, no, no, you honour the contract," he added.
