Report: Barcelona outcasts ready to take massive salary cuts

The reduction of the overflowing salary mass is of utmost importance for Barcelona. Whether it is to make any last-minute moves on deadline day or to reduce strain on their finances, they have to cut some salaries.

After Gerard Pique’s substantial pay cut, Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto, and Jordi Alba are all close to reaching agreements for a reduction. While Busquets’ reduction will be announced any minute, Roberto and Alba are still negotiating. Reports state that they are going smoothly though.

Two players who have been highly scrutinized between the Barcelona sphere of late are Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic, for their high salaries. Umtiti has been draining resources since 2018 after his injury issues have consistently plagued him. When fit, he has been grossly out of touch and lacked sharpness.

Barcelona have tried to push the Frenchman out this summer, but he has been adamant on staying. As for Pjanic, his move to Italy has failed, after seeming like he would rejoin his former club Juventus all summer.

Now, according to Gerard Romero, Barcelona seem to have resorted to their only remaining alternative after failing to offload the two outcasts, which is to pursue a salary reduction.

Umtiti has agreed to reduce his salary to €5 million, while Pjanic has agreed to cut his own to €4 million, with both netting around €8 million per season originally.

This comes after Barcelona’s pessimism about a deadline day departure for the Bosnian midfielder. As for Umtiti, he has never really looked close to exiting. Both players will now seemingly continue at Barcelona on reduced terms. Only the official announcements for the salary cuts remain.