Gary Neville has called for a ‘transfer embargo’ for Premier League clubs who are ‘trying to reduce wages’ amid the coronavirus crisis.
The financial implications of the current suspension of football has so far seen four Premier League clubs – Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich – place non-playing staff on the government’s furlough scheme in a bid to reduce wages amid a lack of revenue.
Premier League leaders Liverpool also announced an intention to do the same, before later reversing their decision amidst an angry backlash from former players and supporters.
The decision of Premier League clubs to use taxpayers money to fund employee wages has caused controversy given the ever-increasing finances involved in English football’s top tier, while there are still discussions ongoing as clubs look to get their players to also take a pay cut.
However, Gary Neville has called for any club cutting their salaries to face a ‘transfer embargo’, saying that the prospect of clubs spending heavily within months of cutting wages just ‘doesn’t feel right’
“What I would say in the bigger picture, these transfer discussions, Kane for £200m, Sancho for £100m, big-money signings completely undermines the discussions they are having with players,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“If you are having a 30 per cent pay cut across the board and you are talking about spending a billion on players, you may have to put a transfer embargo in place.
“It is very difficult for players to see a transfer for £200m a few weeks later.
“It doesn’t feel right to me. There is no smoke without fire, I would suggest the Premier League stop this and put a transfer embargo in place on all clubs that are trying to reduce their wages.
“Players are having their wools pulled over their eyes by clubs.”
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I think we will likely see an end to overpriced player transfers as clubs will have too reduce cost of support,as there simply won’t be any money about. We will be in a world recession.