Inter have three weeks to find an agreement with their players on salary payments, a report in the Italian media explained tonight.

Corriere della Sera‘s online edition noted that the Nerazzurri would otherwise be obliged to pay their outstanding installments before the Italian Football Federation’s deadline on May 31.

Inter president Steven Zhang spent 45 minutes speaking with players at Appiano Gentile today, asking each to give up two months’ wages in a gesture of ‘responsibility’ towards the club.

Zhang will be unable to reach a collective agreement with everyone, so individual discussions will begin this week (potentially on Thursday, after Inter’s match against Roma the night before).

Inter’s players cannot deliver a unified response to the wage cut request because they all have very different contractual situations, the Milan-based paper explained.

While those who are tied to long contracts could reach agreements to defer payments further, those who are out of contract in the summer are far less likely to accept the proposal.

Inter’s financial problems have been sharpened by the COVID-19 pandemic, although as Zhang explained to players today, these are issues affecting several top clubs across Europe.