Arsenal players agree to take 12.5% pay cut after reported pushback

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Arsenal's first-team players and coaching staff are forgoing 12.5% of their salaries so the club can cope with the losses it's facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The club announced an agreement was reached Monday with players and staff. A week earlier, reports indicated that some players had rejected plans to take a cut and preferred to have a portion of their salary deferred instead.

Progress was made after Arsenal's top executives agreed to cut more than a third of their own salaries over the next 12 months.

Additionally, the players and staff who waived a chunk of their wages will have the opportunity to earn it back.

"If we meet specific targets in the seasons ahead, primarily linked to success on the pitch, the club will repay agreed amounts," Arsenal said in a statement. "We will be able to make those repayments, as hitting these targets, which the players can directly influence, will mean our financial position will be stronger."

Clubs have made their own arrangements during the work stoppage, with the Premier League so far unable to strike a blanket agreement with all players over a pay cut.

Arsenal posted a loss of £27.1 million last season due to their extended absence from the Champions League.