Southampton reach wage deal with EPL players

Southampton became the first Premier League team to announce an agreement with their players over wage deferral during the coronavirus crisis.

The Saints announced measures to help the club and non-playing staff through the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Southampton’s players, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and his coaching staff agreed to defer part of their salaries for the months of April, May and June ‘‘to help protect the future of the club, the staff that work within it and the community we serve’’.

In addition, the club confirmed it will not use the Government’s job retention scheme to furlough non-playing staff during that three-month period.

Fellow Premier League sides Tottenham, Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth have said they intend to utilise the Government scheme, with Liverpool reversing their decision to do so following widespread criticism.

‘‘Our owners, Mr Gao and Katharina

Liebherr have put measures in place to ensure that all staff not deferring part of their salaries will continue to receive 100 per cent of their pay, paid in the normal way until June 30,’’ Southampton said in a statement.

‘‘In these unprecedented times we are dealing with many challenges to our business model and day-to-day operations.

‘‘The situation is ever-evolving and we will continue to monitor and assess the impact to the club over the coming weeks before deciding any further action necessary.’’

Southampton confirmed that ‘‘all activity at Staplewood Campus, St Mary’s Stadium and our other sites continue to be suspended except for essential activities’’ with the situation to be reviewed at the end of April.

‘‘Everyone at the club remains fully committed to the community we value so highly in Southampton,’’ the statement said.