COVID-19’s effect on football


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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which at the time of writing is said to have infected over one million people, has been felt across the footballing world in recent weeks.

Whilst the troubles in football are obviously nowhere near as bad as the fight some people have been forced to endure, there has still been a negative impact on the sport.

A host of top European outfits, including Barcelona, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, have already announced major wage-cuts for their first-team squads.

As for clubs in the Premier League, Norwich, Newcastle and Tottenham recently confirmed that non-playing staff had been placed on furlough.

And in the statement in which Spurs announced their furlough decision, the Lilywhites’ chairman, Daniel Levy, hit out at those still putting out transfer stories:

Every person on this planet will be affected and in my lifetime I cannot think of something so impactful.

When I read or hear stories about player transfers this summer like nothing has happened, people need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us.

We maybe the eighth largest Club in the world by revenue according to the Deloitte survey but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries.


Liverpool put plans on hold
The above statement was followed by a report from the Telegraph, in which they ran the headline ‘Tottenham’s transfer plans stymied by decision to furlough recruitment department’.

And now it looks as though another top Premier League outfit is having its plans affected by COVID-19.

According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool have put all contract talks and recruitment plans on hold due to the ongoing uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.

One player that has been heavily linked with a move to Anfield this summer is RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner.

The report from the Mail mentions this, also citing reports about the Leipzig hitman having a £51m release clause that had to be activated by a certain date in April.

However, the Mail goes on to state that any ambitions Werner has of securing a move to England will have to be placed on hold.