Super League club Salford Red Devils have had their sustainability cap reduced and ordered to sell players by the Rugby Football Union.

Uncertainty over the Red Devils' future at Salford Community Stadium has led to doubts about commercial revenue and left a hole in their finances.

Salford said they had remained silent in recent months "due to the sensitivity of ongoing discussions with potential investors".

"It is at our discretion to maintain and ensure the integrity of these discussions, subject to confidentiality agreements, and to protect our club, players and staff," Salford said.

"As things stand, contrary to reports, investor talks continued over the weekend as part of a long and rigorous process to secure the club's takeover. This remains active and we are working to expedite the process - we are Efforts to expedite details cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements.

"However, clubs have been instructed to sell players immediately; the RFL has issued a sustainability cap of £1.2 million and we are now prohibited from registering players for the upcoming season until this cap is reached."

The normal sustainable cap for Premier League clubs is £2.1 million.

Salford received a financial lifeline last November when other Premier League clubs agreed to advance distribution funds for 2025.

Salford added: "A condition of receiving the advance was that the club would accept 'special measures' requiring an £800,000 reduction in administrative expenses."

"We were not given a clear timetable for complying with the required spending cuts, so the club decided to maintain our position in the short term while investor negotiations were ongoing. During this period the club received a number of offers for players, none of whom, to this day, have been available. For sale.

"It should be added that the advance was held by RL Commercial and the payments were administered directly by them - the club never received funds to be administered directly."

Salford City Council approved a deal in September to buy the stadium the Red Devils share with rugby league club Sale Sharks.

The Red Devils said they were unable to contact the council "during the festive period" to secure a meeting and "identify next steps to maximize revenue opportunities for the club".

Salford said: “Prior to the acquisition, negotiations with investors broke down as there was investment risk without any clear position from the council on when the stadium acquisition would be completed; this is one of the delicate negotiating positions we are in. example."

The Premier League club, which reached the Grand Final in 2019, also said Salford City Council had failed to deliver on a subsidy control grant originally proposed in March 2024.

Salford said: “The club was notified of the extension in July 2024 and again in September 2024, with a further extension until November 2024, which again affected financial forecasts.”

“In November 2024, Salford City Council stated that the Subsidy Control Grant would not be available due to funding shortfalls elsewhere, the impact of which was that the club had already committed funds to player and staff recruitment and to pay for pre-season preparations, including warm-up games . -The weather camps in Portugal have actually allocated these projected funds.”

The Red Devils will start their 2025 Super League campaign at St Helens on February 15.