The Premier League's decision to make public their wishes for players to accept a 30 per cent pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic saw the 20 team captains go 'ballistic'.
An ongoing stand-off between players, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) and the Premier League has seen an agreement still to be reached.
Southampton and West Ham have both come to their own arrangements regarding wage deferrals and the Independent report that the Premier League's statement about a 30 per cent wage cut had not previously been relayed to the captains of the 20 teams, leading to annoyance from players.
The league's decision to go public before addressing the players with the proposal is said to have 'alienated' them and left them 'aghast' at the conduct of the league.
That initial decision, and the repercussions of it, could ensure the two sides continue to struggle finding middle ground to agree on league-wide wage cuts.
Players have shown a willingness to give up part of their salary, provided it goes to the National Health Service and to those working to tackle the novel coronavirus on the frontline in care services.
Sportsmail revealed on Monday that Premier League captains had set up a WhatsApp group to allow players to keep each other updated about wage discussions - aimed at giving them the edge in talks.
Southampton's have agreed to defer around 10 per cent of their wages for the next three months to help ensure the club can pay the remainder of their staff 100 per cent of their salaries.
West Ham's players will take bigger drops of up to 30 per cent until October, among a string of measures introduced by the London Stadium outfit.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was a driving force in getting the #PlayersTogether movement off the ground and that proved immensely popular with his peers.
Players have spent time since the announcement discussing how they will work out the contribution from their clubs with suggestions including each player deciding how much they want to donate, the team settling on a percentage of their wage or a set amount being agreed.
A significant drop in revenue has seen teams try to find ways to cut costs, with Liverpool and Tottenham among those to initially furlough non-playing staff, before a public backlash from their supporters forced u-turns.
It appeared last week that the FA was ready to intervene in a bid to reach an agreement.
Greg Clarke, the former Leicester City director who is now Vice President of FIFA alongside his FA chairmanship, was the man believed to be ready to step in.
It came after he urged players to settle their pay cut dispute by 'sharing the pain' of the coronavirus crisis.
Clarke said in a statement: 'Football faces economic challenges beyond the wildest imagination of those who run it. The pandemic will be followed by its economic consequences and all business sectors will suffer.
'We face the danger of losing clubs and leagues as finances collapse. Many communities could lose the clubs at their heart with little chance of resurrection.
'In the face of this unprecedented adversity, all the stakeholders within the game from players, fans, clubs, owners and administrators need to step up and share the pain to keep the game alive.'
Players are under pressure to take cuts, rather than deferrals, but the reported annoyance at the public statement is unlikely to have boosted hopes of a swift resolution.
All Premier League games have been suspended until at least April 30 but there is growing expectation that that date could either be pushed back, or any return would only see games played behind closed doors, with fans kept away as the virus continues to spread throughout society.
At the time of writing, the United Kingdom has had more than 88,000 positive tests of COVID-19 with 11,329 deaths.
