Jamie Carragher has laughed off suggestions Mauricio Pochettino will take a pay cut after reports emerged that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has approached the sacked manager to reduce his compensation package.
Premier League clubs are currently considering their financial options amid the coronavirus crisis, with Spurs one of five top flight clubs – alongside Liverpool, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich – to announce an intention to furlough non-playing staff, though Spurs, Liverpool and Bournemouth have all reversed the decision following an angry backlash from supporters.
With clubs looking to cut costs wherever possible, the Mail reports that the north London side have now approached former manager Pochettino, who is believed to still be receiving a salary of £8.5m-per-year despite being sacked in November, to take a pay cut to help ease the club’s financial concerns.
Spurs had agreed to continue paying the Argentine until he takes his next job in management, though Jamie Carragher dismissed the notion of Pochettino being willing to take a cut, saying the 48-year-old will be ‘turning his phone off’ in response to Levy’s request.
“Pochettino did a great job,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “When managers go, as we all know, there’s a big pay off involved and rightly so. That’s the name of the game, Daniel Levy knows that.
“There is going to be cuts right across football, there’s no doubt. I think we’re still having problems with Premier League players at this moment. I don’t think it’s going to change with a manager you’ve sacked.
“If you’re finding it difficult to get Harry Kane and the players in that dressing room to defer wages or have them cut and they’re the ones you’re working with day in day out, if Pochettino is in Argentina with his family I think he’ll just be turning his phone off and ignoring Daniel Levy.
“It’s going to be a lot more difficult with a manager you’ve sacked than the players in your own dressing room.”
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