Gary Neville has questioned reports claiming Manchester United are set to impose a new wage cap.
What’s the story?
A report in The Mail at the weekend stated Manchester United are set to impose a new wage cap on all contracts they are handing out.
This would be capped at £200,000 per week, and would apply to new deals set to be offered to David de Gea and Luke Shaw.
The idea is to rule out situations where players like Cristiano Ronaldo has excessively high wages in comparison to his teammates, a situation which also occurred with Alexis Sanchez in the past.
De Gea is United’s current highest earner on £375,000 per week. This deal expires in June and United will only offer a deal on reduced terms.
READ: Confirmed Manchester United transfers in, out, loan deals for January 2023
Neville’s verdict
Gary Neville has branded the reported new policy as ‘radical’, and says if strictly imposed, it will rule the club out the race for big name transfers in the future.
He also questioned how new owners would feel about such a decision being made.
He wrote on Twitter: “Not sure why any radical new policy is being introduced IF new owners are imminent.
“Capping wages is a radical policy. Rules out Rice, Bellingham and others in that bracket. Any new owners would probably want to enter the running for these types and probably Mbappe as well.
“200k won’t get you Rice or Bellingham let alone Mbappe. Seems a strange policy when you have Casemiro , others on 350/400k for 4 more years in the dressing room.”
How strict will new policy really be
It is hard to believe Manchester United actually will strictly stick to a wage cap. The idea has it’s merits, but it is not so practical when competing against some of Europe and England’s biggest spenders.
When a highly valued asset like Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe becomes available, United would have to pay the market rate to get them.
It’s a little easier to say, this is a policy for players who are 30 or older, like De Gea. But this would potentially have ruled out a move for Casemiro this past summer.
As Neville points out, there are players on long-term contracts at United earning above the supposed cap, including Marcus Rashford, who would have to take a wage drop in order to to sign a new deal.
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