Barcelona desperately need to enforce wage cuts including for Lionel Messi.
Barcelona are in dire straits, once kings of the world, now find themselves near rock bottom. The club is in a financial mess and could go into bankruptcy if the pay cuts are not made with immediate effect. The talks of pay cuts were already ongoing before Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board resigned and now temporary president, Carles Tusquets, has stated that they must go through with the wage cuts as there is no other way around their financial problems.
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Tusquets is trying to negotiate with the players of the club as the salary of the players takes away 70% of the club’s budget. This is far from ideal and in fact, it could lead them to bankruptcy. They are the highest paying club in all of Europe but they cannot afford to do so any longer as the pandemic has affected them severely.
The president also talked specifically about star player Lionel Messi. Tusquets told that even though Messi is their star player and their most valuable asset, he would also need to go through a pay cut and there is no “tailor-made suit for him”.
"“I think we can reach an agreement. It seems to me that there is a willingness to do so. We do not want to take money from anyone but to adjust salaries so we can pay them when possible – this is the solution we think is the most viable given the circumstances.”“We cannot make a tailor-made suit just for [Messi]. We can create different structures for similar cases but we cannot tailor-make deals for individuals.Source Goal"
He also said that though they do not want to take money from the playing and non-playing staff, it is a necessary step that they must take in order to normalize the situation. He did not go into specifics about Messi but commented on the Argentine saying that he and his representatives are willing to sacrifice for the club.
Tusquets concluded by applauding Ronald Koeman for his bravery. He remarked that it is very difficult to put faith in the youth in such a drastic manner but Koeman has shown a lot of bravery by trusting the youths and working with the club in such tough times.
Should players suffer for the miss management of the former board?