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Manchester United have introduced a ‘Ronaldo rule’ to ensure nobody inside the Old Trafford dressing room is paid significantly more than their team-mates.
Salaries will be capped at £200,000 a week with goalkeeper David de Gea the first to be impacted.
His £375,000-a-week deal runs out in the summer and the Spaniard has been given a far lower ‘take it or leave it’ offer that is in line with the contract signed by Bruno Fernandes last season.
United’s new collective pay stance is a major sea change from the Ed Woodward era when the club were happy to break wage structures to bring in big brand players such as Ronaldo.
Current chief executive Richard Arnold, director of football John Murtough and manager Erik ten Hag want to avoid a culture of dressing-room jealousy.
Senior players like Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Casemiro and now Fernandes are all in the same pay bracket (£180,000 to £200,000 a week), with sanctions if they fail to qualify for the Champions League. The idea is to have more players paid at that level rather than splash out £500,000 a week on individual superstars.
De Gea, who has been at United since 2011, said last week he is confident talks to stay at the club will end ‘in a good way’ but he’s been left in no doubt he can’t expect to earn more than the players in front of him.
Luke Shaw, whose contract is due to run out in 2024, will be offered similar terms to keep things equitable.
However, United will face a bigger challenge in trying to convince England striker Marcus Rashford to re-sign at Old Trafford given that Paris Saint-Germain would be willing to double his money.
Rashford is in fine goalscoring form at the moment but with his contract also running out in 18 months time, club chiefs are reluctant to make any special cases — aware as they are of how team spirit fragmented at United following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 and subsequent greater pay discrepancies between teammates.
United’s latest annual wage bill was estimated to have been £228million — the highest in the Premier League.
They have been able to save £20million a year by terminating Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract — which allowed him to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr — but they still have to be mindful not to fall foul of Financial Fair Play regulations.