Man United stars take a 30% pay cut for hospitals

PREMIER League footballers were under pressure to take a pay cut last night after Manchester United stars led the way with a 30 per cent reduction.

Every Old Trafford player has agreed to donate almost one-third of their monthly salary to hospitals and health centres in their city.

The gesture translates into a multi-million pound donation – with top earner David De Gea giving up around £450,000 of his £375,000-a-week wages, while skipper Harry Maguire will donate around £250,000.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker weighed into the debate after agreeing to give two months of his £1.75million BBC salary to the British Red Cross.

The former England striker said: “It’s now up to the players how they respond. Let’s give them a chance before this hugely judgmental pile-on that we always get nowadays.

“My inkling is that footballers will take pay cuts. I think we need to be a little bit patient with them.”

Help

The issue was thrown into the spotlight by Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Thursday when he urged players to support club staff who are being furloughed at the taxpayers’ expense.

Tottenham – whose owner Joe Lewis is worth £4.5billion and pays most players between £70,000 and £200,000-a-week – has furloughed non-playing staff, along with Premier League rivals Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth.

Shop workers, security staff, cleaners and catering staff will now be paid 80 per cent of their salary up to £2,500-a-month by the taxpayer – while club stars remain on multi-million pound salaries.

But Hancock’s intervention was not welcomed by former United captain Gary Neville. The Sky Sports’ presenter tweeted: “Players are more than likely working on a proposal to help clubs, communities and the NHS. It takes longer than two weeks to put together. Matt Hancock calling them out when he can’t get tests in place for NHS staff is a ******* cheek!”