Arsenal players, coaches agree to 12.5% pay cuts for year
Canada’s Davies extends 2 years with Bayern to June 2025
LONDON, April 21, (AP): Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his players agreed to reduce pay by 12.5% on Monday for the next year to help their club deal with the financial impact of the coronavirus.
No games have been played in the English Premier League for six weeks and the competition is not likely to resume until at least June due to the national lockdown and social distancing.
“There has been a clear appreciation of the gravity of the current situation,” Arsenal said, “and a strong desire for players and staff to show their backing for the Arsenal family.”
The voluntary reduction in annual earnings by the players and coaches will come into effect next month once the paperwork is completed this week.
“If we meet specific targets in the seasons ahead, primarily linked to success on the pitch, the club will repay agreed amounts,” Arsenal club said. “We will be able to make those repayments as hitting these targets, which the players can directly influence, and will mean our financial position will be stronger.”
The north London club has 10 games remaining and is eight points from fourth place with a game in hand on Chelsea as it chases a first Champions League qualification in four years.
Arsenal did reach the Europa League final last season, losing to Chelsea, helping the club generate an annual income of almost 400 million pounds ($500 million). But the the business did lose 32.2 million pounds.
When the Premier League eventually resumes, games are likely to be held without fans - denying clubs millions of pounds in revenue.
The league remains in talks with the government about when player training
Arteta
and games can restart, with the national lockdown in place until at least May 7.
“We have been clear throughout all of it that the government will not consent to events taking place unless we can be sure it is safe to do so,” said Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, whose cabinet brief covers sport.
Meanwhile, Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been using some of his spare time in lockdown to teach
British kids how to speak Spanish.
The Argentina international has been signed up by the BBC as part of its home-schooling initiative while educational establishments are closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Aguero is teaching kids how to count in Spanish. His lessons became available on a day kids in Britain would have usually returned to school after the Easter holidays.
Aguero says “it’s a tough time for children at the moment, and also for parents trying to keep them focused on their education from home.”
Aguero hasn’t played a competitive match since March 8 because soccer is shut down in England and across most of the world during the outbreak.
Also:
BERLIN: Canadian soccer star Alphonso Davies has agreed to a twoyear contract extension with Bayern Munich through June 2025.
Bayern announced the agreement Monday with the 19-year-old from Edmonton, Alberta.
“It’s a dream come true to play here. I felt happy from Day 1,” Davies said in a statement. “The mentality of always wanting to win everything is in FC Bayern’s DNA.”
Davies made his senior club team debut with Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps in July 2016 at age 15. Born in Ghana, he became a Canadian citizen in June 2017 and played his his first game for the national team that month.