Chelsea stars to ditch pay-cut proposals after feeling pressured into them and now look at deferrals

Chelsea players want to shelve the club’s pay-cut proposals in favour of exploring a wage deferral after negotiations stalled.

The squad — led by captain Cesar Azpilicueta — and the Blues board had been in talks over a first-team pay cut, with players privately agreeing to accept a 10 per cent reduction after the club initially proposed 30 per cent.

But a Chelsea source revealed the 10 per cent offer was ‘never presented to the board’ and, on Saturday, an official statement from the club confirmed players would continue to be paid in full because an agreement had not been reached.

Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta is leading the players’ negotiations with the board over the prospects of taking a pay cut

Despite the impasse, the Chelsea hierarchy still want their players to take a wage cut to ease the financial pressure caused by the coronavirus crisis.

But Sportsmail understands there are members of the squad who want to give serious consideration to structuring a wage deferral proposal when negotiations resume.

A deferral allows players to eventually be paid the money they have foregone, whereas a pay cut means the losses are permanent.

Chelsea players are now hoping to agree wage deferrals with the club’s hierarchy  

So far during the lockdown, Arsenal are the only Premier League squad to accept a pay cut.

Their players agreed to a 12.5 per cent reduction last week.

But even then, up to three players objected to taking cuts over deferrals including Mesut Ozil — as Sportsmail exclusively revealed.

The decision by Arsenal’s squad has caused a degree of consternation from their fellow Premier League players, who had been in general agreement that squads should only accept deferrals.

Indeed, there is a similar feeling among players in the Chelsea camp, who want to see how long the delay in action continues before accepting a cut.

Arsenal are the only side so far in the Premier League whose players have agreed a pay cut

Talks between players and the board will continue with hope of getting a deal agreed in the coming weeks.

Discussions are said to be amicable, but there are concerns within the squad that tensions could escalate.

Sources claim certain players have felt pressurised into accepting cuts rather than a deferral.

West Ham, Sheffield United, Watford, Southampton and Aston Villa have all agreed percentage deferrals while other clubs remain in talks with their players.