Barcelona players have refused to accept another pay cut despite a recent request from club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The Barcelona squad agreed to take a 70% wage cut in March while football is suspended, with the club feeling the financial impact of the pandemic.
But in a ‘new effort’, club president Bartomeu asked the players to take a second pay cut on May 23, which had already been agreed.
Camp Nou / Josep Lago / Getty Images
RAC1 now reports that the Barcelona squad have no intention of further reducing their wages as La Liga resumes. The report states that the original huge cut in player wages would save La Blaugrana more than €40m, while the new proposal would save the club a further €10m.
However, with La Liga now set to resume on June 11, Barca players have ‘no intention’ of agreeing to another pay cut.
In fact, RAC1 points to the fact that the original contract saw the players agree to a pay cut while play was suspended, and now that the top division in Spain could very soon return underground. is ready, this Agreement will expire.
Barca are looking to offload several high-profile names as they look to raise funds. The likes of Arthur Melo, Ivan Rakitic, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and others have been linked with moves elsewhere, either in cash-only moves or as part of swap deals.
Philippe Coutinho/DeFodi Images/Getty Images
Recently, it has been claimed that Nelson Semedo and Sergi Roberto are also on the way out the exit door – with Barcelona willing to listen to cash-only offers for both of them. Of course, Barca will not be keen to sell both players, but it underlines their desperate efforts to raise funds to manage the impact of the coronavirus.
It remains to be seen if any further proposals will be made by Bartomeu, but at the moment the players are unwilling to give in to their president’s wishes.