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Arsenal have planned for the apocalyptic scenario of the Premier League relegation with several players facing big pay cuts if the club goes down.
Unlike Chelsea in 2015, when they ranked 16th in the Premier League table in December, Arsenal have protected themselves from the financial impact of relegation.
It is understood that many of Arsenal’s traditional rivals do not plan the relegation threat by inserting reduction clauses into their players’ contracts, but the practice is relatively common outside of the big six.
Arsenal’s relegation clauses are believed to be relatively new, with many Arsene Wenger-era stalwarts never having them during their careers.
Arsenal are 15th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, and have not declined since the 1912-13 season, when, like Woolwich Arsenal, they finished last in the former First Division.
But that long record of never failing didn’t stop Arsenal from inserting clauses into multiplayer contracts, meaning they would be forced to take 25 percent pay cuts if the unthinkable happened.
Chelsea were the last traditional club of the big six to flirt with the relegation threat, when they fired José Mourinho in December 2015 with the team just one point above the relegation zone.
But Chelsea had not planned for the relegation threat as their players had no reduction clauses in their contracts.
Arsenal’s current salary bill is over £ 150 million, with top earners Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil earning £ 350,000 a week and the 32-year-old summer signed Willian to a huge three-year deal.
It’s unclear if the 25 percent cut figure, which some players would face, is a team-wide policy or if any of the top earners could be hit by even bigger cuts.
Arsenal can rightly claim that its 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 club’s erosion of ambition and a recognition that they are no longer among the Premier League’s elite.
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