Financial climate makes contract extensions as valuable difficult as new signings

Considering the difficult financial climate in place right now, clubs across Europe have been losing thousands, if not millions with every passing matchday. The bigger clubs have of course had it worse due to their heavy reliance on matchday revenue that has been taken away due to the absence of supporters from the stands. 

While clubs have been unable to spend money on transfers, they have instead turned their focus to renewing contracts of their existing players. But even that is a daunting task for the bigger clubs across the continents due to the financial demands of the players that seemingly cannot be compromised on. 

Speaking on the situation on the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano compared the current situation involving negotiations with existing players at clubs similar to that of signing completely new players. This is because the demands for payment are not getting any lower despite the pandemic. 

Clubs have adopted different means to combat the problem, with Real Madrid cutting 10% of the salary of their players at the time. This is especially important because their contracts all include such big commissions and bonuses in place for meeting certain variables. 

Barcelona and Inter Milan, contrastingly, have missed the payment of their players in previous months and are yet to stabilise their financial situation. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are hence having a tough time agreeing new contracts with their respective clubs due to their steep financial demands.