The tumult continues to unfold in Camp Nou as Barcelona have been unable to reach an agreement with their players regarding the proposed wage reduction.
The financial crisis was waiting in the wings even before the dismissal of former President Josep Maria Bartomeu. A wage reduction was in talks due to the debt increasing two-fold for the Catalonian club.
Barcelona are currently over €400 million in debt to banks.
New contracts were recently announced for Frenkie De Jong, Gerard Pique, Marc Andre Ter-Stegen and Clement Lenglet. Reports coming out of Spain indicate that the four players have agreed on a temporary adjustment in their pay package owing to the financial crisis and that they will be reimbursed in the future.
However, not all players have been as cooperative as the ones mentioned above. Some even signed a petition in the locker room to protest against the wage reduction that the board have put forth.
Esport3 reported last week that the deadline for the wage reduction talks had been extended. However, no significant conclusion has come about this week either.
The players have argued saying that the wage reduction should not be the same for everyone and that it should be carried out in a tiered fashion. In addition, they have also questioned why the basketball players are not having wage reductions while the football B-team are being asked to.
Barcelona’s current wage bill amounts to a mind-boggling €230 million per year without including the bonuses that the majority of the players are entitled to for achieving personal milestones across the season.
The club is in a dire situation and will have to find a way to reduce at least 30% of their current wage bill. Should they fail to do so, Barcelona will be face to face with bankruptcy. The pandemic will do the club no favours and will make it even harder for the club to deal with the situation with funds becoming scarce.
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