NORWICH players will see their wages cut by HALF after relegation from the Premier League.
Daniel Farke’s team, who visit Watford tonight, look certain to return to the Championship after just one season.
Unusually, the club insisted on a clause that the squad’s wages would reduce by 50 per cent if they finish in the bottom three.
Normally, Premier League players have clauses with relegation cuts ranging between 25 per cent and 40 per cent.
Norwich handed new deals to their young stars last season such as Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia and most of the players earn between £25,000 and £30,000 a week.
Overall in the Premier League this season, the average wage of a first-team player is £61,000.
At Manchester CIty, it is more than double that.
Instead, following the reduction if they are relegated, Norwich players will earn between £12,500 and £15,000 which is still above the Championship average of £10,000-a-week.
Norwich’s recruitment over the last two windows has not been a success.
Sam Byram was their biggest permanent transfer last summer costing £750,000.
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But the total outlay was over £6m as they paid large loan fees including the arrival of Schalke keeper Ralf Fahrmann and Sevilla midfielder Ibrahim Amadou. Neither made an impact and both moved to other clubs in January,
Norwich made a loss of £38m last year but were expected to turn a profit of £20m this term although that figures will be reduced to the coronavirus impact and that Premier League teams are having to give some TV money back.
Boss Daniel Farke has previously said the club were still “paying for the sins of the past” which included giving Everton’s Steven Naismith a £50,000-a-week three-and-a-half year deal in January 2016.
The club suffered the drop a few months later and Naismith did not have a relegation clause.
Astonishingly, he also landed a £1m promotion bonus at Carrow Road in 2019 even though he had not played for the club for 18 months as he was on loan at Hearts.
Meanwhile, Norwich, who have lost all five games since the restart, will attempt to deliver a better performance at Vicarage Road compared to Saturday’s dismal display in a 1-0 home loss to Brighton.
Todd Cantwell will miss out with a hamstring problem while Kenny McLean (ankle) and Alex Tettey (knee) will have late fitness tests.
Boss Farke yesterday reacted to some fans who complained that he has stayed too calm on the touchline during games. He said: “It’s a part of my job not to be too emotional and not to be too addicted to public views.”
