Just five months after Premier League clubs consulted their players about taking a 30 percent wage cut, the English top-flight is again blo...
Just five months after Premier League clubs consulted their players about taking a 30 percent wage cut, the English top-flight is again blowing Europe’s other top leagues out the water when it comes to splashing the cash.
A return to the routine spending of tens of millions of pounds on players jars with the bleak forecasts often presented by the clubs themselves as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic, Liverpool and Tottenham planned to use government money to pay non-playing staff, only to back down in the face of public anger, while Arsenal announced proposals to cut 55 jobs just last month.
If Premier League clubs require a reminder that Covid-19 remains a threat, they need only look to the empty stands that will accompany the start of the new season from Saturday.
Gate receipts may only account for 13 percent of the Premier League’s revenue, according to figures from UEFA’s latest benchmarking report, but the other major streams of income such as television rights and commercial sponsorships are also not immune to the crisis.
A rebate worth a reported £330 million ($429 million, 363 million euros) was due to domestic and international broadcasters because the 2019/20 season was not completed on time after...
