Coronavirus: Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish will be first to take pay cut, says Gabriel Agbonlahor

Gabriel Agbonlahor believes Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish will be one of the first at the club to take a voluntary pay cut due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at Thursday's government daily briefing Premier League footballers should play their part and take a wage cut to mitigate the impact of the virus, while the Professional Footballers' Association has accepted players must "share the financial burden".

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On Monday, Grealish apologised for breaking government lockdown guidelines after he revealed he visited a friend despite being instructed to stay at home.

The 24-year-old was fined by his club and Agbonlahor, who played with Grealish at Villa, believes his former team-mate will want to make up for his mistake.

"Knowing Jack he would have known he made a big mistake. I think he probably just thought to himself 'I'll pop round and go and see a friend' but he'll know deep down he's done wrong," Agbonlahor told Sky Sports News.

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"He's been punished now and I think it's something that everyone should stop talking about and move on. He's apologised and I think he'll be doing something to try and help.

"He will be the first one to take a wage cut if necessary because he's a very generous guy."

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'I was crawling to get a drink of water'

Agbonlahor suffered with the symptoms of coronavirus two weeks ago and is urging everyone to take notice of the current government guidelines. He was not officially tested but says the infection had a significant effect.

"I thought I was a fit guy but there were days when I couldn't even get out of bed," he said.

"I live on my own, I was crawling to get a drink of water, my sense of smell and sense of taste had gone.

"I think in total I lost just over a stone in the space of a week. So the seriousness of it is severe, especially if you get all the symptoms I did, so my advice to people is just listen to the government and stay indoors because it's not a virus you want to catch."

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