Sunderland are expected to see a huge clearout of playing staff if they go down.
The Telegraph says Sunderland announced losses of £23 million for the last financial year, and while the Premier League's new television deal will dramatically reduce that figure if they stay up, they will be in serious trouble if they go down.
The playing staff will not be exempt from the cost cutting if the club go down with relegation clauses in their contracts ensuring their wages will drop by 40 per cent in the Championship.
Sunderland will also be helped in reducing the budget by the fact that eight of the first-team squad are out of contract in the summer and two players, Fabio Borini and Ki Sung-Yong, are on loan for this season only from Liverpool and Swansea City.
