The prospects of of Dutch defender Jaap Stam and Argentine striker Claudio Lopez remaining at Lazio, look remote after they refused to sign the club’s new pay deal.

The club confirmed it had struck a deal with only 18 members of their squad, but several players including Stam and Lopez have sunned the offer which involves receiving shares in lieu of unpaid wages.

‘Iunderstand the club is in a difficult position but I cannot go to the supermarket and buy groceries for my family with shares,’Stam wrote on his website last month.

‘If that means I am not a Lazio player next season, then so be it.’

As well as accepting shares for five months salary, those players who signed the deal also agreed to defer a proportion of their wages over the next two seasons.

‘The chief executive Luca Baraldi expresses his satisfaction at the accord, and thanks those who signed up and demonstrated a great sense of responsibility and attachment to the Lazio shirt,’ said a club statement sent to the stock exchange.

Lazio have been beset by financial problems and have been forced to sell leading players Alessandro Nesta and Hernan Crespo to reduce their debts.