According to multiple sources in and around Arsenal, the players are game for taking pay deferrals, that look like performance-related targets.

The clubs has asked them to drop 12.5% of their salary for a year. That money comes back to them if they are sold. They get 5% back if they make the Europa League. They make it all back if the club reaches the Champions League. They get NOTHING back if we fail to make Europe (Source The Mirror / The Athletic).

Additionally, the players will be asked to donate a week’s wages to support 100% of the non-football staff, which they have agreed to.

All this will be renegotiated if the season is cancelled and the TV vultures come back for the money that is rightly theirs.

The players are said to be pissed at the comms of the club, they feel they don’t know enough about the details of the deal and worry this was just a cost-cutting exercise implemented under the guise of a disaster.

All those feelings are fair. I can tell you from experience, every person going through these things has the exact same concerns. Unfortunately, you just have to take the changes on good faith.

I have to say, a 12.5% cut for a group of players that rake in a quarter of billion is not a bad deal. You’ll notice it, but you’re not switching from Waitrose to Iceland. You can still buy nice things.

The interesting part about this is the financial implications of being sold. Just say this goes on for three months and you’re earning £100k a week. You could have yourself sold this summer and land a £150k cash rebate! If Mesut was sold, he’d pocket £525k! Huss Fahmy working magic even in a crisis… golden goodbyes could be the smartest move yet.

One thing that is interesting is the realisation that footballers are shit with money. I thought they were so well off they’d not have a problem with a pay cut. They are whining and bitching like they’ve had £20 taken from their oner a day on a building site. How can you be bad at finances when you earn millions a year? Staggering.

Anyway, overall vibes about this deal.

• It’s a good look for Arsenal, getting a deal done relatively early.
• It’s a good look for the players, they’ve agreed and not bitched.
• It’s a great look from the perspective of all the workers that aren’t footballers. They’re getting paid. No public money will be touched.

The broader concern is how all of this affects players thoughts this summer. I suspect a lot of them are going to feel burned by this. I think we’ll see exits this summer, I also think the plan for transfers is going to be much smaller than we’d like it to be. We gambled on making the Champions League with big-name signings, that seems unlikely now, which will mean reduced transfer spend this summer unless we pull in big cash for our big players. Again, you have to remember that Barcelona had to borrow to buy last summer, I think the big-budget transfers will be very limited this year as clubs look to greatly improve their ghastly cash positions.

A lot of hope will be pinned on young players. I’d imagine Huss and Vinnai will look to reshape our wage bill. I hope, hope, hope we bin super-agent fees and shoddy transfers targets like Willian. Maybe this moment in time will draw sharper focus from America on what we’re doing in London. If the LA Rams are late on bonus payments, you can be sure finances are consuming a lot of the groups thinking time. Maybe Arsenal come under the spotlight and a rethink on transfers is actioned?

That’s me done. Well done Arsenal. Classy as ever. I’m proud, I hope the rest of the fans are as well.

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