Cardiff City: Whittingham and Manga are asked to take pay cuts

Peter Whittingham has been at Cardiff City for more than a decade.

Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock says his two top earners, Peter Whittingham and Bruno Manga, have been asked to take pay cuts to remain at the club.

Both players are out of contract in the summer and neither has yet has signed the reduced terms on offer.

Warnock said he was keen to hold onto both players, but says he needs to reduce the club's wage bill.

"We spoke with Peter about a compromise contract and I spoke to Manga about a compromised contract," said Warnock.

Warnock admitted talks had effectively stalled with the pair, but the 'compromise contracts' were necessary to bring the club in line with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

"He (Whittingham) can't be on the contract he's on now. Like Manga he's one of the top earners at the club," the manager explained.

"We had discussions earlier on (with Whittingham), we couldn't quite reach an agreement as such.

"Things have changed slightly in the fact with the FFP, we had a meeting a few weeks ago and we should know about that next week.

"I've had to have a meeting planning out next season about what I'm looking for, how many players I'm looking for, the cost and how we can fund that without aggravating this FFP rule and regulations."

Bruno Manga joined Cardiff in September 2014 from French club Lorient

Warnock says he hopes the players will be enticed to stay because they are comfortable in their surroundings.

"I've spoken to Manga as well, we'll be deciding what we're doing as soon as we know what figures they are and we can see how we can manage it," he said.

"We can't sustain the wages he's on, but he's enjoying himself and I've said to him he's had good money from the club for a few years, will he enjoy it wherever else he goes? He's enjoying it here.

"He's part of my plans at the minute and I've said to him 'let's see how you go between now and the end of the season' and I think if he enjoys it he might accept the reduced contract."

Kadeem Harris is another Cardiff player Warnock is also negotiating with about a new contract.

The Bluebirds have eight games of the Championship season left and are seemingly safe from relegation after reaching 51 points with a 3-1 win over Ipswich before the international break.

They head to Molineux on Saturday to face a Wolves side still seeking points to secure their own Championship status next term.

However, Warnock has troubles in attack ahead of the trip to the Black Country.

Top-scorer Kenneth Zohore is doubtful with a tear to his calf and ex-England striker Rickie Lambert is also sidelined.

"Kenneth Zohore was the biggest worry," Warnock said. "What we don't want to do is make it worse."