Norwich players facing 'pay cuts of between 40 and 60 per cent'
Norwich players are facing ‘pay cuts of between 40 and 60%’ with the possibility of ‘MANY’ departures after their record sixth relegation from the Premier League was confirmed after defeat by Aston Villa
- Norwich City have been relegated to the Championship at the first time of asking
- Their relegation was confirmed in a 2-0 loss to Dean Smith’s ex-side Aston Villa
- Smith will stay on as Norwich manager as they look for an instant return
- Players though face pay cuts with the possibility that ‘many’ could depart
Norwich players reportedly face hefty pay cuts following their record sixth relegation from the Premier League.
Their drop had been expected for a number of weeks and was confirmed following their 2-0 defeat to manager Dean Smith’s former side Aston Villa on Saturday.
As previously reported by Sportsmail, Smith will stay on as boss of the Canaries, who will be seeking a repeat of the 2020-21 season where they immediately bounced back up to the top flight with promotion from the Championship.
Norwich’s relegation was confirmed as Dean Smith’s side lost 2-0 away against Aston Villa
It’s reported that many players could leave Carrow Road or face pay cuts at the club
It might not be the same case for their players though, as the Telegraph have reported there could be ‘many departures’ this summer.
Those that stay meanwhile could be looking at pay cuts ‘of between 40 and 60 per cent’.
Relegation has hardly been surprising in a season which has been plagued with poor performances and new signings failing to pay off.
The Canaries have lost 23 games this season and if they fail to score points in their final four matches, would match their record lowest total number of points of 21 – which was set just two years ago when they were last relegated.
Dean Smith will remain in the job as he looks to guide Norwich to an instant top-flight return
Norwich were the 14th highest spenders in Europe last summer – though this was made possible by the £33million sale of Emiliano Buendia to Aston Villa.
In total, 11 players were signed at a total of just under £60m, with many of the signings failing to work out.
Four of those were loan signings, with Billy Gilmour, Brandon Williams, Ozan Kabak and Matthias Norman set to return to their parent clubs.
They could find it tough also to keep the likes of Max Aarons and Milot Rashica ahead of next season.
The future of Norwich’s sporting director Stuart Webber also remains uncertain.
Webber’s contract expires in June and it’s said that no deal is yet on the table to extend his stay at the club.
Norwich’s season has been plagued with poor displays and new signings which haven’t worked
Teemu Pukki hides in dejection after Norwich were relegated for second time in three seasons
After the defeat to Aston Villa, Smith said: ‘It’s a bitter disappointment and I fully take my responsibility. There’s been an inevitability about it and over the season our performances haven’t been good enough.
‘I’ve got an English O-Level but I had to go and look at the word apathy this week after some debate from Norwich fans. We’ve tried hard.
‘It’s imperative we have a tilt at the Championship. The last two times our club has been in it, you’ve won it.’
Smith was brought in to replace Daniel Farke in November with the club rock bottom and it is understood the club were realistic about a potential relegation.
The club appointed him with the primary goal of keeping them in the Premier League but also pinpointed him as a man to take them back up the following year if they were relegated.
‘We move on very quickly now and we are planning to get back up,’ added Smith. We’ve got four games to go and the club is very well run. We’ve only got one player out of contract in the summer so there’s not an awful lot we have to do.
‘We’ve been planning for this for the last few months. We will move forward as a football club.’
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