Metz weigh salary cuts and sales as relegation looms | OneFootball

Metz sit bottom of Ligue 1 and are braced for another drop, a year after promotion, with salary cuts and sales firmly on the table.

According to L'Équipe, relegation could be sealed directly two weeks before the play-offs or via May’s barrages, which would be an eighth descent to Ligue 2 this century and prompt a rebuild.

Sporting director Frédéric Arpinon says Metz must plan for both scenarios every year, accept sales and move early. With almost no TV money for two years, he says revenues are nearly halved and that cash is vital.

On one of the smallest budgets, Metz have tightened offers, blunting their pull despite the returns of Habib Diallo, Boubacar Traoré and Bouna Sarr. Agents note they are more defensive than Angers or Le Havre. Arpinon says he will not imperil the club to win pay battles and adds that those who signed accepted the terms.

Contract uncertainty bites. More than 10 players are out of deal, with Giorgi Tsitaichvili, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Koffi Kouao likely to go. Teenagers Believe Munongo, 16, and Nathan Mbala, 18, are set to sign pro, while Arpinon accepts L1-L2 doubt can weigh on renewals but says he does not sense exits.

Any drop brings pay cuts. The LFP permits a 20% collective reduction when moving from L1 to L2, with larger cuts, 30% up to 34 846€ gross a month, 40% to 52 136€, then 50% above, agreed individually by 30 June. An agent says this feels punitive, so salaries can be smoothed over longer deals, as with Maxime Colin’s two-year extension in August 2024.

Average monthly gross pay is 28 000€. Top earners include Habib Diallo on 90 000€, G. Hein on 75 000€ and Benjamin Stambouli on 65 000€. Boubacar Traoré is on 55 000€, with Wolverhampton paying a further 110 000€ a month as parent club.

Source: L'Équipe