Player wages should not be reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic, Gareth Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett has said.
Jonathan believes rather than cutting the salary of footballers, clubs must work on how to run better during these trying times.
According to him, too many players are on contracts, so it is hard for clubs to easily drop their wages, which is why club owners will need to work on improving their revenue to cope amid the pandemic.
He added that there will definitely be a drop in transfer fees but even that will not be long term because huge transfers and market values will definitely come back very soon.
His words, “I don’t see players’ wages dropping, that is for sure,”
“Most players are on contracts. What I do see is maybe clubs have to look at how they run their club a bit better.
“Fans come to see players play, no one comes to see the chief executive play, that [players] is what puts money on the table. It’s not a question of players earning less because it is a short period of time to earn their money.”
On transfer fees, “I think in the short term [there will be a drop], but not in the long term,” he said. “They [the huge transfers] will come back. Market values will come back.”
On the approach clubs should take, “You have just got to look at it sensibly and say, ‘This year I can’t afford to pay so I won’t do it this year’. Act sensibly and pay what they can afford to pay. If they can’t [afford to buy], they don’t. Nobody is going to be forcing them.
“They can offer for a player whatever money they can afford. If it is right for the player, it’s fine. If not, then he stays where he is or goes somewhere else.
“After the next television deal they [clubs] will hopefully be in a better position, or once the fans start coming back they might be in a better position again to do it. Then their sponsorships go up and all these things come back.”
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