Southampton: Saints defer player wages and avoid furloughing staff

Some Premier League clubs have taken the decision to put non-playing staff on furlough, but it appears that Southampton have found a way to avoid this.

An official statement released by Saints earlier today explained that first-team players, Ralph Hasenhuttl, his coaching staff and the board of directors have agreed to defer part of their salaries through until June – believed to be 10% by the Daily Mail.

The statement also explains that owners Jisheng Gao and Katharina Liebherr have made pledges to ensure that staff not deferring part of their salary will not be furloughed and will remain on 100% pay.

The Mail report does also state that deferred wages could be repaid in October as part of the agreement after maintaining the day-to-day running of the club for the short-term.

There has been a lot of criticism for some clubs who have already put their non-playing staff on furlough.

Spurs, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich have already taken this step, whilst Liverpool were forced to reverse their decision to do that same after a heavy backlash from their fans.

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More clubs could potentially move towards wage cuts soon given that it is unclear when things will get back to normal, but Saints have certainly made a positive step here.

In some ways, it will have helped to see the negative reception from fans of other teams towards decisions to furlough.

Players certainly cannot be blamed now after also committing to the movement named Players Together.

This involves players from all 20 clubs in the Premier League and sees them contributing to a fund that will go a long way towards helping the NHS in the current fight against Coronavirus.

The initiative was said to have been organised by Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and is a superb response from top-flight players after recent criticism.

They have taken their time and got it absolutely right, and the same can be said for Saints as a club now after assessing the options first and then making the correct call.

Football is a world awash with money in so many parts, but sometimes it just takes a little patience to show that there are many good people involved in it.