Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has asked the players to take a further pay cut, as the club attempts to manage the financial strain of the Covid19 pandemic.
Last March it was reported that the playing staff agreed to take a hefty 70% cut to their current salaries. The Blaugrana club pays out more wages than any other team in the world. Lionel Messi alone typically earns €35m annually, while Antoine Griezmann collects a hefty €17m per annum.
Messi publicly admitted he wasn’t impressed at the manner in which the management went about the initial cuts. He believed they pressured players into taking a pay cut when they were already planning to.
According to Catalan radio station CCMA, they believe Barca President Bartomeu has asked the Barça squad to take further pay cuts last May, on top of the one already agreed, in what he described as a new effort from the players to ease the economic strain placed on the club by Covid19 pandemic.
The president is said to have taken advantage of his visit to the first team’s training facility two Saturdays ago, and it’s believed he was there with the CEO Òscar Grau and another club executive who has been working on the cuts, Albert Soler.
It’s likely the proposed second cuts will also stretch to the non-playing staff of the club. Despite no mention of it in the latest report. The initial cuts also applied to the womens football teams, the B team, the Under-19s as well as the basketball, handball, futsal and roller hockey teams.
The Blaugrana have been actively trying to offload several high-profile stars during the current uncertainties as they attempt to balance their accounts by the end of June.
Ousmane Dembélé, Arthur Melo, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo and Philippe Coutinho are just a few of the names who could depart the club. Bringing in hefty fees in the process.
The club has also announced that some academy graduate and fringe players will be sent on loan. Meanwhile AZ Alkmaar are ready to launch an ambitious bid for Barca youngster Ansu Fati. The player broke into the first earlier this year. The Dutch giant will try to lure him to the Netherlands with regular playing time to aid his developments.