Arsenal have already planned for potential relegation from the Premier League by inserting pay reduction clauses into their players' contracts.
Mikel Arteta's Gunners have tumbled down to 15th in the league table and currently sit just four points clear of the relegation zone, and their continued struggles have prompted talk that Arsenal are in for a relegation battle this season.
Well, it seems as though those in charge at the club are aware of the possibility of going down as The Telegraph note that Arsenal have ask players to agree to clauses which would slash their pay if they drop down into the second tier.
It's a relatively new practice - one which was not utilised during the Arsene Wenger era - and appears to be indicative of the team's recent fall from grace.
It's not uncommon for Premier League teams to use such clauses, but seeing one of the so-called big six do so is somewhat unusual. By contract, when Chelsea were 16th in December 2015, they had no financial protection from the threat of relegation.
While there's nothing wrong with inserting these clauses and it could be argued that it is simply sensible business, it doesn't exactly read well for an Arsenal side who haven't been competing for the league title for a good few years now.
“Normally when [a bad run] happens you have two types of people – fighters and victims,” Arteta said. “You need fighters and you don’t want any victims.
“Victims bring excuses, victims bring negativity and they start to blame anything that is happening around them or is not going their way. You need people who fight, people who contribute and people who are ready to give everything to the club in this moment.”
Arteta believes that Arsenal do in fact have enough fighters to get themselves out of their current rut, and he urged them to keep focused and ignore the negativity coming from elsewhere.
“Yes, we do, but some of them can doubt in any moment because when you find yourself in this situation you are tempted to go to the other side and say, ‘Oh, we are scoring own goals, we cannot play with ten men, we don’t have the crowd and the referee made these decisions’," he added. "I’m sorry but we don’t need any of those.
"There are people who are contagious and can transmit a certain level of energy. When you have a lot of them it is easy. You always have some on one side, some in the middle and some completely on board.
“Then you have to drag as many people as you want into your side, to the fighting side. And the ones who are not interested or cannot do it, they have to stay behind because, if not, they are dragging you back.”
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Source : 90min