Barcelona captains sceptical about another wage cut in light of Lewandowski’s signing

A report from ARA provides an update on Barcelona’s wage bill situation and the measures that Joan Laporta wishes to implement to get things under control.

The Barcelona president enforced pay cuts on players during the summer of last year in order to be able to register new players. The club captains – Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto were the first ones to accept the reduction in wages.

And, heading into the new season, Laporta is once again considering the possibility of more wage cuts as the Catalans continue to be mired in economic issues.

But as per the report, this time out, the club captains, apart from Roberto, who is close to signing a new contract this week, might be reluctant to accept the cuts.

It is claimed that the veteran stars are puzzled about the fact that the club keep asking players to forego part of their salaries while having the budget to bring in new players of Robert Lewandowski’s calibre.

Indeed, the 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker has emerged as a top target for Barcelona this summer. Reports have also suggested that the Poland international has already agreed terms over a €9 million per year contract with the Blaugrana.

A transfer fee with Bayern Munich is yet to be negotiated but Barça are confident of getting their man this summer. While Lewandowski’s signing will no doubt be a huge coup, it might lead to some issues within the dressing room due to the wages.

As iterated earlier, the Barcelona captains, Pique, Alba and Busquets are reluctant to reduce their wages once again when the club can afford to bring in new players with high salaries.

One of the club captains’ agents told ARA: “It will be difficult to reach an agreement with the club for the reduction.”

It has been reported that Barcelona already owe Pique a sum of around €50 million in deferred salary payments. So, it is natural for the player to feel disgruntled over the situation, although he is yet to make any fuss over the situation.

It remains to be seen how Barcelona plan to resolve the situation as they continue to hesitate to go ahead with the CVC agreement.