Manchester United’s woefully underperforming players might be a little easier to move on than otherwise had been expected. Because of the failure to get Champions League football, United’s players will take a 25% pay cut, the Sun reports. That will cost players like Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba millions of pounds over the course of next season. With any luck, none of them will be here next season.
That does have a follow-on impact though. If the three of them are still at Old Trafford next season, they might put even more lamentable performances in on the pitch as their primary concern - earning coin - is less worthwhile. Quite how they could put in worse performances than they have done lately is difficult to fathom, but never expect that a footballer is incapable of phoning it in if they need to.
However, there has been concern that some of the most dreadful players United have on their books, like Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian, would be reluctant to move on to another club because they would either not take a pay cut, or United would not be prepared to subsidise their wages in order to turf out the absolute guff they call a playing squad. The pay cut means that the players might have a reason to finally do one, in the pursuit of more money in return for even less effort elsewhere.
Oh, and the players who actually try, like Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and David de Gea, seem to be likely to leave for nothing because Ed Woodward has spent too much money tying down the other wastrels who bring down the players around them with their stinking attitude. Chin up!