Brentford set to become first London club to agree player wage deferrals

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Brentford are close to becoming the first London club to agree a wage deferral package with their players, as talks between the Premier League, EFL, PFA and LMA over pay-cuts continued today.

Brentford directors have been in discussions with the squad since last week and are now in the final stages of agreeing a deal which will see weekly wages temporarily capped at around £5,000-a-week during the coronavirus shutdown in a move to help protect the jobs of non-playing staff.

Birmingham City were the first Championship club to agree a deal with their squad, with any player earning more than £6,000-a-week asked to take a 50 per cent cut for the next four months, while players at leaders Leeds have volunteered to take a wage deferral.

The Premier League wants any decision on salary-cuts to be universal across its 20 member clubs and talks over video link with the PFA were continuing today.

Some Premier League clubs, including Tottenham, this week furloughed non-playing staff and are pushing for wage deferrals of at least 30 percent that become cuts if games cannot be played in full stadiums.

The PFA would prefer straight wage deferrals, believing the situation could be reassessed in future.