Captains of all 20 Premier League clubs have set up a WhatsApp group to come together to battle against plans to force top-flight stars into significant wage cuts, according to reports.
Players are said to be furious over the proposals to force them into accepting a proposed 30 per cent reduction in wages after the Premier League met the Professional Footballers Association in Saturday.
But their revolt appears to have gone up in scale with the Daily Mirror claiming the 20 captains have now banded together to not break rank and reject the plans, which one skipper is believed to have branded 'disgusting'.
The report claims the players are committed to making considerable financial sacrifices, but insist their money go to charities as opposed to heading straight back to affluent club owners.
But it also claims the main sticking point remains the general approach, because different clubs are going directly to players and trying to bully them into signing renegotiated contracts.
The captains were informed of the scale of the financial crisis during a video conference call on Saturday from Premier League executive Bill Bush, Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor, managers and club chief executives.
However, there is believed to be genuine anger among the captains that they are being portrayed as the villains while working privately to set up their own charity foundation.
Their frustration also reportedly stems from the fact that big clubs such as Tottenham and Liverpool have put non-playing staff on the government's furlough scheme.
Each club will put forward their own proposals to players but up to a maximum of 30 per cent.
However, the captains are due to discuss the proposals again on Monday, and should they reject them as expected, it would leave the Premier League in tatters with uncertainty over the impact of the coronavirus growing by the day.
While they have faced questions in recent days, Premier League players are understood to be joining together to make a multi-million pound donation to the NHS.
A fund is being put together and organised by Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who has been working with the other 19 skippers in the top flight to pool the money.