Juventus were the first big club to demand wage concessions from their players when Serie A stopped playing, a move that others across Europe quickly followed.
Are Juve trendsetters again as they have become the first Italian club to launch their own salary cap? Will other clubs follow this lead, leading to a reduction in wages across the top clubs in Europe?
From next season, the Serie A giants will hand out contracts worth a maximum of €9million a year, which works out at around €173,000 a week.
The move, according to Turin-based newspaper Corriere di Torino, is to ensure the club’s ‘financial solidity’ in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Italy has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with Serie A officials still waiting on government approval to restart the season despite clubs being told they can return to team training on May 18.
The new salary cap will not affect contracts which are currently running, meaning the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot, who all earn more than the 2020-21 limit, will continue earning their usual salaries.
The agreement also doesn’t apply to the club’s star man, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is seen as an extraordinary case even at the age of 35.
The former Real Madrid forward earns almost €600,000 a week at Juve and has another two years left on his current deal.
The rule will prevent the club signing the ‘next Ronaldo’ however, with the world’s top players demanding salaries far in excess of the €173,000-a-week limit.
Juve have made no secret of their desire to bring back Paul Pogba from Manchester United, but the France midfielder currently pockets £290,000 a week at Old Trafford.
A pay cut of almost 50% is likely to scupper a return to Turin for Pogba, who remains a target for Real Madrid after their failed pursuit last summer.
The Italian champions have also been credited with an interest in big names including Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe, but the salary cap will make deals for those two impossible.
Salah earns around £200,000 a week at Anfield, while L’Equipe recently claimed that Mbappe was demanding £600,000 a week to sign a new contract with PSG.
Juventus have already agreed a major wage cut with their players and technical staff, with Ronaldo and Co agreeing to go without pay for four months in order to help the club survive the coronavirus crisis.
The move is expected to save Juve around £80m in wages until August, although the money will be paid back to those involved over the coming seasons.
