Barcelona are still in a difficult financial condition, despite selling their assets for the foreseeable future. The team has the second highest wage bill in history at €656 million, which is close to their own record of €671 million which was the case in 2018/19.
The club’s economic vice president Eduard Romeu recently pointed out that there remains a lot of work to be done on the financial front. And their current plans involve reducing the wage bill by around €150 million.
Barcelona plan to trim wage bill considerably
One of the main strategies to achieve the wage bill cut will be to move on veterans. The likes of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets are expected to leave the club next summer. And this would result in a significant amount off of the wage bill in 2023.
The extra amount will allow them to try and sign Lionel Messi on a free transfer again. The Argentine is out of a contract next summer, and has not started talks over a renewal as of yet.
However, he will only decide on his future after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Which means that right now, there is no other option but to wait.
There is another complication, which is the deferred wages of their current players. So, it will be a complicated few months for the club in order to deal with all their issues financially.