Pep Guardiola and his playing squad remain in discussions about the prospect of wage deferrals and how that money is spent going forward.

Kevin Parker, general secretary of the official City supporters’ group, praised the move. “The club’s decision does not surprise me in the slightest and remember the CFG groups are now supporting eight clubs” he said.

“The club have shown that, despite what some might think or say, they have a moral compass and that would not include taking taxpayer’s money just because they can.”

City’s decision not to furlough staff is at odds with some of the moves taken by their main competitors.

Liverpool became the fifth club after Spurs, Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Norwich City to publicly announce on Saturday that they would be furloughing large numbers of non-playing staff.

Tottenham have furloughed 550 non-playing staff, with the news announced on the day it emerged chairman Daniel Levy was paid £7 million last year, including a £3m bonus for delivering a new stadium over budget and almost a year late.

The North London club posted profits of £68.6m for 2018/19 and are owned by businessman Joe Lewis whose fortune is estimated at £4.3bn.

Well over half of Liverpool’s non-playing staff will receive 80 per cent of their salary up to £2,500 a month through the government’s furlough scheme with the club making up the difference in a move condemned by a host of former players, including Jamie Carragher and Stan Collymore.

It comes only five weeks after Liverpool posted profits of £42m (£33m after tax) for 2018-19 on revenues of £533m. Last year they also spent £43m on agents’ fees. Liverpool’s owners, John W Henry and Tom Werner, have an estimated combined wealth of around £3 billion.

Liverpool fans’ group Spirit of Shankly (SOS) has written to the club asking them to explain the decision.

“Many of our members and the committee have raised concerns that the club intend to use taxpayers' money to pay staff,” SOS said in a statement.

“We can all agree this is wrong, but again for Spirit of Shankly the prerogative is protecting jobs.

“It is the club who make the decision on how to pay their staff and they are the ones who need to answer why, if they decide to furlough.

“Our belief is that no million-pound plus profit-making organisation should be relying on tax-payer subsidies in times of crises, yet football as a money-making industry has been singled out.

“It is an easy target for the authorities. We are contacting the club now and asking them to explain their position and reasoning. We will report back as soon as we hear back.”