Numerous players have a clause in their contracts
And so, here we are, Arsenal fans. Remember all the optimism that came with that FA Cup win a mere… *checks notes*… four(!) months ago? Gone. Completely gone.
With only a few days left of 2020, articles are being written about what happens if Mikel Arteta – assuming he’s allowed to stay in the job long enough – takes the club down to the Championship. How, even in this banter era to end all banter eras, did it come to this?
A wretched run of form has the club sitting in 15th in the Premier League on 14 points, only four above the relegation zone. Suddenly, a smiling Roy Keane quipping that they should have enough to stay up doesn’t seem quite as funny. Yes, there’s a long way to go and it probably won’t happen, but given the events of recent weeks, the idea of Arsenal going down doesn’t seem quite as far-fetched as it should.
Should the unthinkable happen, the Daily Mail report some of their players – those who are happy to stick around in the Championship, at least – will face having their wages slashed by 25%.
The report claims that while such agreements are commonplace at some of the top flight’s smaller, more-likely-to-be-relegated clubs, Arsenal have prepared for every possible eventuality by adding pay-cut clauses to some player contracts, activated if the club goes down. On the one hand, some might say it’s shrewd planning given in an environment where football’s finances are more precariously balanced than ever; on the other, it doesn’t say a great deal about the faith in current squad and manager.
Arsenal’s wage bill currently stands at around £150m for the year but club finances would take a massive hit if they did suffer relegation. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the exiled Mesut Ozil are amongst the club’s top earners but would likely be sold should they go down.
The thought of Arsenal Fan TV if they do actually go down…
