Expiring Luton player contracts will be extended if the club can afford it and the stars want to stay, chief executive Gary Sweet has revealed as the Hatters work on a new budget to cope with the Coronavirus crisis.
Town have begun negotiations over pay cuts for their first-team squad, with the season suspended indefinitely, having already been sidelined since March 10 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sweet himself has already taken a pay cut, while the Hatters have also announced some staff will be furloughed, with the government paying 80 per cent of those wages, as part of the Job Retention Scheme.
But there is also uncertainty for six first-team squad players whose contracts are set to expire on June 1, with Luke Berry, Danny Hylton, Callum McManaman, Glen Rea, Elliot Lee and Marek Stech.
Sweet said: “There will be a mechanism in place to allow us to extend those contracts if we can afford it, and a mechanism in place for those players to be allowed to extend their contract and play for Luton if they wish to do so.”
Town also have an option on deal extensions for Kazenga LuaLua, Jacob Butterfield and Donervon Daniels.
Sweet added: “They’ll be our decisions as to whether we take them forward and, clearly, at the moment we’re not having any discussions with any players for next season because we don’t know quite [know enough].
“One of the things we’ve got to do here is put together another completely new budget and while footballers are the most expensive component of our cost base, they are also, in some ways, the most important.
“So, we know it is our intention to try and keep the squad together as much as possible, of course. We’ve got a great group of lads, we’ve got some great footballers, but as an officer of the company and a director of the company, I’ve got judiciary responsibilities as well, so I’m not allowed to overstretch this business.
“At the moment, I could not commit to anything further until we’ve redone that budget and we know that when income is going to be taking place.”
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