FC Barcelona are said to be ready to drag any player who refuses to accept a pay cut to court amidst the financial crisis they are currently battling with.
The Spanish club is owing close to two billion dollars due to ambitious spending in the last couple of years. Barcelona are expected to pay up most of their debts, hence they are doing anything necessary, including selling of players, to raise funds.
Yet, the business has to go on while they try to raise money from all possible sources to service the rising debt. One of the sources the club intends to tap into, aside from selling off some players, is cutting down on the outrageous wages they have been paying their players.
Hence, the new president of the club, Joan Laporta who seems not to be a party to the huge sum of money the club spends on wages, has been working round the clock to reduce the club’s wage bill.
This is not just about cutting down the wages of players to pay up the club’s debts, it is now a criterion for FC Barcelona to be able to register new players ahead of the 2021-2022 season.
Amid their rising debts, Barcelona still have the most financially draining payroll in European club football. Hence, La Liga’s president, Javier Tebas has directed the club to balance their books before they could think of adding more names to it.
This directive has made it difficult for FC Barcelona to register the players they have already signed. Reports in Spain claimed that players like Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay, and Eric Garcia who Barcelona signed this summer are yet to be registered due to the financial crisis at the club.
However, during the unveiling of Memphis Depay on Thursday, July 22, the club’s president, Laporta said Barcelona are allowed to register new players.
🦁😍🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/5qd38ZImh7
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 22, 2021
He said: “The players we are signing can be registered. We know about the restrictions, which come by cause of what we have inherited. It isn’t easy but we are working hard with LaLiga. Alemany is doing an extraordinary job, so are Yuste and the secretary. We have to follow the rules. We are convinced we can reduce the payroll or find a formula that’s acceptable to LaLiga. LaLiga is on our side and so is the president. He is the first person to want players like Memphis to be playing for Barça, but there are rules and we want to obey them.”
Meanwhile, the club’s financial crisis has also made it difficult for Barcelona to make the new deal of Lionel Messi official. Before now, Futballnews reported that Messi had accepted a 50 percent pay cut to remain at FC Barcelona but the club is yet to make an official announcement in that regard.
Aside from Messi, reports claimed that other experienced players at the club who were against the pay cut policy have agreed to accept it. Some of the experienced players include Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and Sergi Roberto.
However, there are still some experienced players at the club who are yet to agree to accept a pay cut. One of the players who fall in such a category is Jordi Alba.
Since Messi and other experienced players have agreed to accept a pay cut after a series of back and forth, Barcelona expect every other member of the club to accept it before the commencement of the 2021-2022 La Liga season which is on August 15, 2021.
A report by a Spanish publication, Mundo Deportivo claimed that after the said date, FC Barcelona would begin a legal procedure against any player who failed to accept a pay cut.
Though what the legal battle would entail is not known yet, it is left to see how such an approach would not affect the performance of the club in the coming season if it ever gets to that.
It is worthy to note that the legal battle might not happen based on the comments of the club’s president on Thursday. The club president said ” the players are showing a very positive attitude”, which means that they are now cooperating.
“We understood their reaction but when they saw the situation, they understood. Their agents are listening to our proposals”, the club president added.
