Premier League looking to enforce relegation-based wage cuts

The Premier League is in talks with the Professional Footballers Association to introduce a system of mandatory pay cuts for players of relegated teams, report Goal.

The system would see relegation wage cuts inserted into every top flight player’s contract, meaning that relegation to the Championship would trigger a lower wage level. The thinking behind such a move would be to relieve the financial burden placed upon relegated clubs, who frequently have to cover Premier League level wage bills on a more modest income.

Queens Park Rangers provide a prime example of such a phenomenon this season, with high earners such as Julio Cesar and Joey Barton still on the wage bill for most of the Championship season.

Working in tandem with the existing parachute payments system, mandatory relegation wage cuts have reportedly been considered for a number of years, but failed to get off the ground due to opposition from the division’s top clubs.

Of the 20 Premier League clubs, the move would need the support of 14 to get off the ground. However the league’s smaller clubs are said to be receptive to the agreement, with many already operating a similar system anyway.

One meeting has already reportedly taken place between the Premier League and PFA, while another is believed to be pencilled in for later in the year.

515 players have featured in this season’s Premier League – an average of 26 per team.