Arsenal plan for doomsday scenario of relegation from the Premier League

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Arsenal have planned for the doomsday scenario of relegation from the Premier League with a number of players facing big pay cuts if the club goes down. Unlike Chelsea in 2015, when they were 16th in the Premier League table during December, Arsenal have protected themselves against the financial impact of relegation. It is understood that many of Arsenal’s traditional rivals do not plan for the threat of relegation by inserting reduction clauses into their players’ contracts, but the practice is relatively common outside the big six. Mikel Arteta outburst worryingly reminiscent of Rafael Benitez’s ‘facts’ rant Arsenal’s relegation clauses are thought to be relatively new, given the fact many stalwarts of the Arsene Wenger era never had them during their careers. Arsenal are 15th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, and have not been relegated since the 1912-13 season, when, as Woolwich Arsenal, they finished bottom of the old First Division. But that long record of never going down did not stop Arsenal inserting clauses in the contracts of several players, meaning they would be obliged to take 25 per cent wage reductions if the unthinkable were to happen. Chelsea were the last traditional big six club to flirt with the threat of relegation, when they sacked Jose Mourinho in December 2015 with the team just a point above the relegation zone. But Chelsea had not planned for the threat of relegation, as their players did not have any reduction clauses in their contracts. Arsenal’s current wage bill is over £150 million, with top earners Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil earning £350,000-a-week and 32-year-old summer signing Willian on a huge three-year deal. It is unclear whether or not the 25 per cent reduction figure, which some players would face, is a squad-wide policy or whether any of the higher earners could be hit by even bigger cuts. Arsenal can justifiably claim that their reduction clauses are simply good practice and planning for every eventuality, however unlikely. But some of their rivals and critics will see it as further proof of the erosion of the club’s ambition and a recognition that they are no longer among the Premier League’s elite.

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