Will they now just let out-of- contract stars walk away?
MORe than 1,500 players are out of contract at the end of May or June and increasingly desperate clubs are ready for a dramatic round of redundancies if the PFA will not budge in an increasingly acrimonious fight over wage cuts. The total, which includes scholars whose contracts are now coming to an end, will soon give eFL chief executives a strong negotiating hand in their attempt to persuade the union to agree to wage deferrals or cuts.
The very clear message to players is that by sticking to the PFA’s refusal to accept blanket wage deferrals, they are placing at risk the future of hundreds of team-mates — and trainees just starting out. Clubs are desperate to hold on to their squads and maintain relationships which prevent their stars from seeking transfers. But many are increasingly sanguine about losing players, because critical cash flow problems mean they will soon be insolvent. The prospect of no wage cut or deferral deal before the April pay-day — which comes in the third week of this month for some — is a source of mounting concern for many clubs. No resolution by May’s pay-day would be a calamity.
Championship players are vulnerable to redundancy because of the crazy economics which have seen that division’s clubs spend more than their turnover on wages in a gamble on winning promotion. Nine Championship clubs have 12 or more players out of contract at the end of May or June, with no fewer than 17 players entering the last few months of their deals at Luton Town and 16 at Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic — transfermrkt.co.uk data reveals. Brentford are unusual in having only four players in that position. Leeds United have six but promotion rivals West Brom have 12. There is a mood of mounting despair among eFL chief executives about the struggle to reach an agreement with the PFA — who continue to insist that each club must provide a written explanation as to why a wage cut or deferral is necessary. The eFL accept that different levels of cut may be necessary for individual divisions and have not publicly stated a required figure — such as the Premier League’s 30 per cent.
One senior club executive told Sportsmail: ‘We’re not far off Armageddon here. Yet we seem to be as far away as ever and there is no commonality of view. The macro-perspective is clubs are just not going to be able to pay wages. Clubs are going to go bust if they do. They just won’t pay.’
A week on from PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor’s first declaration — in an interview with Sportsmail — that players must be protected from clubs trying to capitalise on the crisis, the union insist they must protect their members. A senior PFA official said: ‘All clubs are different. We say cuts must be thought through to prevent unintended consequences.’