Barcelona Confirm Agreement With Players Over Salary Reductions

Barcelona have confirmed that they have finally reached a long-awaited agreement with the playing squad to defer their salaries in an attempt to abate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

From a financial point of view, the Spanish giants were one of the worst-hit clubs, with the lack of fans in Camp Nou crippling Barcelona's income while they still had to pay their players some huge salaries.

Club officials first proposed the idea of a salary deferral a few months ago, but it was met with fierce resistance from many players, who were fine with the concept but unimpressed at the manner in which it had been proposed, while there were also concerns over how the wage cuts would impact non-playing staff.

Lawyers have been involved trying to rectify the situation, and Barcelona have now confirmed on their official website that a positive conclusion has been reached.

The statement read: "The representatives of the club and the players that make up the negotiation table for FC Barcelona salary adjustments, aware of the great interest and concern with which all of Barcelona follow the work of this commission, make this joint statement public to inform of the following:

"Today, the parties have reached an agreement in principle that allows an adjustment to salaries for the current season, for an amount of €122m fixed remuneration, to which is added the deferral for 3 years of variable remuneration from this season, budgeted at an approximate figure of €50m.

"This principle of agreement is pending ratification in the coming days by the group of players and coaches affected.
The agreement, if it is ratified, will be a milestone of great importance to redirect the current economic situation.

"Both parties recognise the great effort that has had to be made to reach this principle of agreement and congratulate themselves for it."

As noted by Mundo Deportivo, manager Ronald Koeman and his coaching staff have also agreed to their own salary deferrals in an attempt to help Barcelona get things back on track after several months of heavy losses.

It remains to be seen what kind of impact this will have on Barcelona's upcoming transfer business, but it is expected that Koeman will have to make do with loan signings until next summer at the earliest.

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