Aston Villa could be handed a potential £4million bill if they win promotion due to several players being entitled to hefty pay rises if the the club go up, according to The People.
The national newspaper’s print edition (Sunday May 19th, page 51) claim that Ross McCormack, Gary Gardner, Scott Hogan, James Bree and Henri Lansbury would all get a huge hike in pay if the Villans beat Derby in the play-off final.
The People report that only Lansbury out of the Villans quintet has remained at the club this season while the others have gone out on loan.
OPINION
Ouch. Villan’s potential promotion celebrations will certainly have a hangover attached based on this report. It seems the Villans have worked their way into a corner by putting lucrative promotion clauses in several of their players’ contracts. The fact the players above have not been key to Dean Smith’s side being in the play-offs only makes matters worse. McCormack could end up earning £70,000-a-week if the Villans beat Derby and the thought of that is cringe-worthy. The 32-year-old attacker has only made a total of 24 appearances for the club since he joined from Fulham in 2016 and has been sent out on loan numerous times. The report above claims McCormack and Gardner’s contracts are set to end in 2020 but that means they could potentially be on massive wages for a whole season without really having earned them. While Villa fans will be desperate to see their side overcome Derby to reach the Premier League, you can’t help but feel like the accountant is somewhere in the office sweating buckets.