With no games currently going on, clubs everywhere are keen to reduce their outgoings and it is no secret that the majority of those outgoings go on player salaries.
Lionel Messi has taken a 70 percent pay cut at Barcelona with Cristiano Ronaldo reducing his Juventus pay packet by 30 percent.
There have been similar moves closer to Australia. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia announced a 50 percent cut for players and coaches and there are talks in China about how best to approach doing something similar with the disparity between the salaries of foreign and domestic stars making things a little more complicated.
Such measures are temporary until the situation returns to normal or as close to it as possible. Yet it is highly likely that as the short-term moves into medium that the virus is going to put serious downward pressure on player salaries.
The world is facing the biggest economic shock in living memory and football does not operate in a vacuum. There is going to be less money around in the game.
Many of the businesses that survive are going to cut costs and sponsoring football teams or tournaments will be an easy way to do so.
The millions who are losing jobs or seeing income reduced are unlikely to keep paying substantial sums to watch football on television and if so, the sums that broadcasters pay to show the games which bankroll much of the spending in the big European leagues will shrink.
And then there are the fans who go to the stadium. Following your team can be a very expensive process and not easy to do in highly uncertain economic times.
It all points to lower salaries and transfer fees. Whether it is a permanent change or not remains to be seen but when you have chairmen of Premier League clubs warning that it will be hard to survive past August if football does not resume then it is clear there are issues.
With all leagues in a similar situation, there will be fewer options for players. If the Premier League sees its financial muscle weakened, then clubs in Italy and Spain are unlikely to be much better off. China is not going to be the lucrative destination of recent years either.
Australia and the A-League is obviously not going to get through the period unscathed, but if some semblance of normality is maintained there could be some positives.
Transfer fees play less of a part in Australian football to start with, with clubs less affected by a reduction than counterparts elsewhere.
Compared to the big European leagues and some of the best in Asia, the pay on offer down under is relatively low.
Significant falls in the financial power of teams in Saudi Arabia, China, South Korea and elsewhere could make it easier for Australian teams to keep their home-grown talent for longer.
At the moment, an offer from an Asian club is hard to turn down financially. The offers are likely to still come in the future, are likely to still be attractive and will still be welcome but players may be able to make a more studied footballing choice.
There will be more consideration of whether it is the right move professionally and whether the club is also the right destination.
That can work both ways. If salaries elsewhere fall significantly more, in relative terms, than those in Australia, then it may also be easier to attract top talent from elsewhere.
A-League clubs have always been able to sell a new experience in an English-speaking country with a pleasant lifestyle but if there are no mega wages available to the north, persuading players to head south is less of a challenge.
Much remains to be seen and it could be that the Australian game is unrecognisable when it emerges from the other side.
But there are potential positives if the financial gap with parts of Asia and Europe becomes a little narrower.
