Southampton stars were chastised by players at other Premier League clubs for not informing them about the progress of their negotiations with the club over wage cuts.
These led to them becoming the first squad to accept a deferral last month. Players at all clubs had agreed to keep each other in the loop in a series of messages exchanged on WhatsApp, but Southampton’s acceptance of a 10 per cent deferral came out of the blue — which caused angst elsewhere.
Southampton’s PFA delegate Oriol Romeu bore the brunt of the unhappiness, but his relations with players at other clubs have since improved.