Man United stars give up 30% wages as donation in fight against coronavirus

- Man United hope their donation will serve as an example for other clubs to follow suit

- David De Gea is currently the club’s highest earner on a £375,000-a-week wage

- Pressure has been piling on players to take pay cuts as non-playing staff in many clubs continue to be axed from pay

Manchester United players have taken up a one month pay cut of 30% to help the National Health Service (NHS) as pressure continues to pile on football players to relinquish their wages as the fight against the coronavirus rages on.

Several Manchester United players who earn up to a staggering £375,000 a week in wages will now receive their income minus 30% in the next month.

According to reports from Daily Mail, it was United captain Harry Maguire who initially approached chairman Ed Woodward with the idea, as the club seeks to play its part in assisting in the COVID-19 fight.

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The Old Trafford faithful are hopeful that other clubs will follow suit now that they have started the trend.

Top earner at the club David De Gea who earns £375,000-a-week in wages will now see up to 30% of his next month salary go towards the NHS.

Currenly the Red Devils spend a massive £332m in player wages - the most in Premier League history.

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Pressure has been piling on footballers, who are obviously the highest paid elements in any football club excluding the manager, to relinquish their pay for the sake of non-playing staff.

Several football clubs including Norwich City and Newcastle have already taken majority of their staff out of payroll as they urged the workers to enroll to the government’s furlough programme which will see them receive 80% of their salary through the state.

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Pundit Gary Lineker has been particularly vocal against forcing football players to give up their salaries as he believes the decision should be voluntary.

“It's now up to the players how to respond. Let's give them a chance to respond before this hugely judgemental pile-on that we always get nowadays. My inkling is that footballers will take pay cuts. I think we need to be a little bit patient with them,” Lineker, who once played in Barcelona said.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has pleaded with fellow football stars to forfeit their wages and salaries for the year to help fight coronavirus pandemic.

The deadly virus has killed over 49,000 people at the time of this report with a total of 966,935 cases recorded across the globe.

However, the lack of football action would make it difficult for club owners to pay their players and other staff their wages this time.

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Some players have already accepted to take a pay cut in a bit to relieve their employers of too much burden during this compulsory holiday period.

The 36-year-old Argentine who plays for Boca Junior wants his colleague all over to act in a bid to help the less privileged.

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Source: Legit.ng