Could this be true?

[Redkop]

The Premiership's top four will set a ceiling of £100,000 a week for their top players' wages meaning the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Cristiano Ronaldo will be disappointed in their contract negotiations. (The Observer)

[ManxRed]

It'll certainly sort out the mercenarys from the ones who actually want to play for their clubs.

 

Bye bye Ronnie!

[Cobs]

doesn't sound true when Schevchenko & Ballack are supposedly already earning more than that

[magneto]

Long overdue.

 

More incentives should be built into contracts instead of pure wages.

 

I'd have a 50k cap with more bonuses such as:

 

1. League Position

2. Cup success (CL, FA etc).

3. Goals, Assists etc

[Ed the Wool]

Unless the rest of Europe does it, everyone will feck off to Italy/Spain etc like they used to in the 80's.

 

I'd like to see Ronaldo and Lampard feck of though, so perhaps it isn't such a bad thing.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

Frank Lampard and Cristiano Ronaldo have 'no chance' of receiving the massive pay increases they are demanding from Chelsea and Manchester United. That is what they will be told this week by Peter Kenyon and David Gill, the chief executives of their clubs.

 

Given the value of both men to their teams - Lampard was voted the world's second-best player last year and Ronaldo is 'currently the best player in the world', according to Sir Alex Ferguson - the decisions signal a sea change in attitudes to players' wages, which, in some cases, have spiralled to more than £100,000 a week.

 

A senior executive at one the Premiership's 'big four' clubs told Observer Sport last night: 'There has been no formal discussion between clubs about this, but when speaking generally with other executives I sense there is certainly a feeling of "no more on player wages, otherwise where will they stop?" In negotiations, we now have an element where player representatives point to the new TV deal as if it is more money for the pot to pay player wages. That is not going to happen.'

 

A senior source at Old Trafford said: 'There is currently a big fight going on between Ronaldo and United. He wants around £120,000 a week, but the club will not go above £100,000. He will stay, but there is a lot of trouble ahead.' The Portugal winger is thought to be on £60,000 a week in a deal that ends in 2010.

 

Lampard will also be frustrated in his demands. 'He has no chance of getting what he wants,' an insider claimed. 'He will not be offered more than £100,000. That's final. He will have to take what Chelsea offer, end of story.'

 

It is further evidence of Roman Abramovich's new stance over Chelsea's finances. After sanctioning the £130,000...#8209;a-week wages for summer signings Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, the billionaire owner refused to pay inflated fees in the January transfer window and, with negotiations with John Terry also having stalled, is taking a hard line over players' salaries. Lampard signed a five-year deal in 2004, but under European Union employment law he can buy himself out of the contract from May.

 

Steve Kutner, Lampard's agent, described the Chelsea insider's statements as 'preposterous'.

 

'We haven't been made an offer yet,' said Kutner. 'But £100,000 is absolutely ridiculous because Frank is on way more than that already. I've had discussions with Peter [Kenyon] and we know where we want to go. Chelsea want Frank to stay for the next five years and so do we. I certainly haven't given the club any parameters - we are waiting.'

 

Lampard, 28, is thought to earn closer to £80,000 a week rather than the £100,000-plus claimed by Kutner. And it is unlikely that he or Ronaldo will be able to attract higher wages in Europe. Barcelona have never been extravagant payers and Real Madrid's galactico days are behind them. They are the only two clubs that could feasibly top the wages paid in England.

 

There has been speculation that Lampard is heading for Barca in the summer. His wife is from the region and the Catalan club were thought to be interested. But a Barcelona executive confirmed to Observer Sport that they will not target the midfielder. 'The club is not interested in Lampard, no way,' he said.

 

 

that's the article

[Redkop]

 

that's the article

 

 

 

Cheers for that.... I did look for the article but gave up

[Stevie H]

salary cap is difficult to implement as long as the bosman ruling exists.

[floyd]

Lampard was voted the world's second-best player last year

that's the article

Still struggling to come to terms with that

[Kahnee]

salary cap is difficult to implement as long as the bosman ruling exists.

 

How so?

[Gilps]

How so?

 

Bosman signings will usually get a large signing on fee. This can be paid in instalments over the length on the contact and often is in the largest cases. Not sure it would count as salary, even though it's paid regularly. Easy to get round a cap if you can pay a lower salary but a larger signing on fee.

[JayKay]

 

Bosman signings will usually get a large signing on fee. This can be paid in instalments over the length on the contact and often is in the largest cases. Not sure it would count as salary, even though it's paid regularly. Easy to get round a cap if you can pay a lower salary but a larger signing on fee.

But that signing fee could be counted against the cap as they do in NFL's implementation of salary cap.

[Kahnee]

Easy to get round a cap if you can pay a lower salary but a larger signing on fee.

 

Which is what's already happening, surely. Harry Kewell, for example

[Paul B]

Flipping heck, I hope our firm don't bring that in for us. How would I possibly cope on only 5 million a year? Do they want me to be a pauper?

 

If this is brought in, I suggest we have a weekly whip-round on here and give the top-rated Liverpool player of that week what we collect. Poor loves. Me heart bleeds, it really does.

[Zoob]

'We haven't been made an offer yet,' said Kutner. 'But £100,000 is absolutely ridiculous because Frank is on way more than that already...Lampard, 28, is thought to earn closer to £80,000 a week rather than the £100,000-plus claimed by Kutner.

 

As if anyone intelligent is going to believe that fat frank is on 'way more than' 100k a week. But with footballers being as thick as they are, this statement is the sort of thing that could hopefully cause resentment among other Chelsea players.