The tumult never seems to end at Barcelona as the club are on the brink of another problematic situation. The Catalonian club’s debt has doubled since 2019 and has come up to €488 million from €217 million.
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted finances further and has been one of the primary reasons for the spike in debt for the club. Losses worth about €100 million have been projected for Barcelona in terms of absence of ticket sales.
While there were talks of reducing the wages of the players earlier, those talks have become much more concrete. The proof lies in the fact that the club have decided to extend the deadline on their discussions for pay-cuts.
The news, as reported by the Spanish media outlet Esport3, further goes on to say that the club fear bankruptcy and will have to reduce their humongous wage bill by about 30% if the club is to keep on running smoothly.
New contracts for Clement Lenglet, Gerard Pique, Frenkie De Jong and Marc Andre Ter-Stegen were announced very recently. It is being reported that the four players will take a pay cut in the near future, but will be reimbursed when the situation improves.
Barcelona’s current wage bill amounts to an excess of €200 million per year, which is excluding the bonuses offered to each and every player. Leo Messi alone earns about €1.3 million per week, and his yearly payment amounts to a gigantic €71 million per year, again, excluding bonuses.
The Blaugrana will have to cut down expenses by a huge amount to make amends for their lack of income. Some sources speculate that the club will have to let Messi go to keep the club running, due to the Argentinian’s expensive wages.
Should Barcelona be unable to handle the situation properly, bankruptcy could be the least of their concerns amidst complete and utter chaos that could ensue within the club.
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