MANCHESTER UNITED will not ask their stars to take pay cuts or deferrals in the foreseeable future.
However, the club have not ruled out changing their stance if the crisis drags on.
United stand to lose at least £20million from matchday income, with any remaining games in the season set to be behind closed doors.
They had five Premier League home games still to play, along with up to three Europa League ties.
For now, United are confident they can absorb those losses. The club’s most recent financial figures showed that they banked around £173m from sponsorship deals.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was even ridiculed over so-called ‘Noodle deals in Asia’.
Yet it is those sort of revenues which United hope will allow them to ride out the current storm — and emerge on the other side in good shape.
A United source said: “The reality is that no one can predict what this will look like if nobody kicks a ball in six months.”
A drop in TV money or being forced to play matches behind closed doors next season could yet force a rethink.
Across town at the Etihad the situation is less clear — with talks over a possible wage reduction for Manchester City’s squad ongoing.
Boss Pep Guardiola and execs Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain have indicated they would be willing to take a cut.
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Talks with the first-team players have yet to reach a conclusion.
City’s £397m investment from American equity firm Silver Lake in November means they are confident they will come through unscathed.
However the club are ideally looking to balance the books — so a drop in salary for the players has not been ruled out.
