LEVY WAGES WAR
Spurs chief demands top stars take pay cut
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THE OLD 1-2: Will Evelina Kamph be joining Juan Mata for a garden kickabout?
MANCHESTER United are considering a shock move for Matthijs de Ligt following his failure to settle at Juventus. And they could use wantaway Paul Pogba as bait in a stunning bid to lure the Holland international Trafford.
De Ligt, 20, joined Juve from Ajax last summer in a £67.5m deal but has struggled to make an impact (left) to Old
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has told his Manchester United stars to keep sharp during the lockdown – by using their WAGS in their training drills.
The United boss is keeping in touch with his players via Whatsapp, with each player having been given an individual fitness programme.
But Solskjaer has gone a step further, calling on his players’ wives and girlfriends to play their part in helping fine tune their finishing.
“The players have got individual programmes, so this period could be used to work on something special, something specific for them,” said Solskjaer.
“I’ve been in the garden, with the kids, working on finishing and the strikers should be working on finishing or their movement.
“Most of the players have got good facilities and decent gardens at the Italian champions. The centre back has struggled to cope with the hype surrounding his move and has made just 15 league starts this season.
De Ligt, who replaced Juve legend Giorgio Chiellini as
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DANIEL LEVY has urged multi-millionaire players and managers to take a cut in their wages.
The Spurs chairman has announced that his club are bringing in 20 per cent reductions in salary for all 550 non-football staff, some of whom will be furloughed.
But he wants players and coaches up and down the country captain, also suffered knee and shoulder injuries.
United were keen on him last summer but refused to get into a bidding war with Juve and Barcelona as he went on to become the most to go further and do their bit to help a sport hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
Complaining of the impact on business, Levy said: “People need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us. With over 786,000 infected, nearly 38,000
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PER WEEK
(right) deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble.
“We have seen some of the biggest clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus take steps to reduce their costs.
“We made the difficult decision – in order to protect jobs – to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20 per cent utilising, where appropriate, the Government’s furlough scheme. We shall continue to review this position.
“We hope the current discussions between the Premier League, PFA and LMA will result in players and coaches doing their bit for the football ecosystem.”
Professional Footballers’ Association boss Gordon Taylor is opposed to wage cuts, fearing some clubs may try to take advantage and use the crisis as an excuse to reduce costs.
And Levy’s call may anger some on the day it was revealed he earned a £3m bonus last year, on top of his £4m salary, for delivering the club’s new stadium.
But the issue will be raised in talks later today when football’s emergency task force meets to discuss the sport’s response to the pandemic.
Levy added: “I have no doubt we will get through this crisis but life will take some time to get back to normal.
“Many families will have lost loved ones, many businesses will have been destroyed, millions of jobs lost and many clubs, whether big or small, may struggle to exist.”
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