Barcelona will discuss pay cut with defender, could sell if no agreement is reached

According to Javi Miguel of AS, Barcelona are set to enter into talks with veteran defender Jordi Alba in order to renegotiate the terms of his contract for the 2023/24 season.

Barcelona are in desperate need of lowering their wage bill by around €200 million in the summer as they are in deep trouble with Financial Fair Play and cannot sign or register any player unless that is resolved.

To that end, player sales will be likely this summer, while at the same time Barça will also look to renegotiate contracts of some players and agree to a pay cut with them.

There have been talks about a potential salary reduction for the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Now, the report from Javi Miguel states that Alba will also be subjected to a renegotiated contract as he will be the highest-earning member of the squad for next season.

Indeed, due to the deferred payments and the ascending contracts signed during the Josep Maria Bartomeu era, Alba will be owed around €38 million in wages next season, which will be the final year of his contract.

Given the circumstances, the club cannot bear such pressure on their finances and will thus try and negotiate new terms with a reduced salary for Alba. The club expects the left-back to understand the situation and agree to a pay cut for next season.

However, in case there is no agreement on that front, Barcelona could look to sell the Spanish international, who recently turned 34 years old.

Alba has been slowly phased out of the starting XI by Xavi Hernandez this season, with Alejandro Balde becoming the first-choice left-back.

However, the veteran defender is happy at the club and wants to see out his contract, which expires next year. But for that to happen, he will now have to accept a lower wage.