Pay us or sell us, say Leeds stars

Leeds United players would prefer the club to sell one of their star names rather than accept a wage deferral.

The players made their feelings clear at a 90-minute meeting with chief executive Trevor Birch and the PFA at the club's Thorp Arch training headquarters yesterday, but accepted the wage deferral as a last resort.

Only the sale of striker Alan Smith or goalkeeper Paul Robinson could raise the £5million needed to keep Leeds afloat until the end of the season.

The players, some of whom would be giving up £350,000, refused to take an unprecedented 30 per cent cut in their wages because they are worried they would never see the money again. They told Birch it would be better if one of them was sold.

Players' union boss Gordon Taylor said: "The players are saying that deferring wages is a last resort. There is an amount of money needed to get the club to the end of the season.

"If that gap cannot be filled by the end of January then the players are prepared to do that (take a deferment). But we're talking about a lot of money. They will also wonder whether this is football crying wolf or if it is the thin end of the wedge."

THE WEEKLY WAGE BILL

Paul Robinson - £30,000
Matthew Kilgallon - £3,000
Dominic Matteo - £28,000
Michael Duberry - £24,000
Ian Harte - £24,000
Seth Johnson - £32,000
David Batty - £30,000
Jody Morris - £16,000
Alan Smith - £40,000
Mark Viduka - £60,000
James Milner - £5,000
Gary Kelly - £24,000
Nick Barmby - £32,000
(Estimated)