BARCELONA have had to slash the salary of Gerard Pique to be able to register some of their new signings.
The Spanish giants are reportedly in debt of up to €1 billion and were forced to let go of their all-time best player Lionel Messi few days ago due to financial constraints.
Despite Messi offering to take a 50 percent cut in his wages, they were not able to reduce their wage bill enough to be able to comply with LaLiga’s salary cap and register the Argentina captain, who subsequently joined Paris Saint-Germain.
“Barcelona is able to register Memphis, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to play in the Spanish Liga de Futbol Profesional,” the club said in an official statement on Saturday.
“This has been made possible thanks to an agreement with Gerard Piqué whereby the Barça second captain’s salary has been substantially reduced.
“This means that all of the first team players will be available for selection by Ronald Koeman for this Sunday’s opening Liga fixture against Real Sociedad.”
Barcelona said they are talking with more senior players to take salary cuts.
“The club is also continuing to work with two of the other captains, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, to adapt their salaries to the club’s current situation. It must be noted that both players are totally and utterly willing to cooperate,” the statement added.
Barcelona revealed that they “achieved a number of sales and loans with regard to its senior squad that have meant that all of the players can be registered for the start of the 2021/22 season.”
The players include Jean-Clair Todibo, who was sold for €8 million to OGC Nice, Junior Firpo who went to Leeds United for €15 million, and Trincao who was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers for €6 million.
Others are Carles Aleñá to Getafe for €5 million and Konrad De la Fuente to Olympique Marseille for €3.5 million.
