Barcelona Keen to Slash All Salaries by 30% in Further Bid to Cut Costs

Barcelona are looking to 'build a negotiating table' to discuss the reduction of all employees' salaries by 30% as they continue to feel the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Barça's first team squad agreed to 70% wage cuts while football was suspended back in March. Since then, however, the club again asked the players to take a second pay cut as they looked to deal with their mounting debt - but the squad ruled this out.

After Lionel Messi confirmed that he would be staying with the club for another season despite making clear his desire to move elsewhere, it was noted Barça had plans to ask Messi to take another pay cut as well.

Cadena SER Catalunya now report that La Blaugrana have once again pulled out the 'scissors' to deal with their mounting debt and are working to ensure all employees take a wage cut of 30%.

The Catalan giants are setting up a negotiating table to find an agreement with all employees, which includes the first team squad. But if there is no agreement reached before 22 October, the club will make a unilateral reduction.

Barça see this as a necessary measure in order to reduce their expenditures due to the decrease in income this season. Indeed, Barcelona are in a rush to conclude the negotiations within three weeks, but it could be a very complicated process.

Should the squad fail to agree to the club's proposal, the board will 'tackle' the pay cut unilaterally. But the report notes that players would consider this action to have broken the contract and, as a result, they would be entitled to compensation. But the club are ready to go to court with this issue.

A number of players within the squad have responded with scepticism to Barça's announcement as they are keen to 'defend their rights'. A special labour lawyer has also been hired to help assist in the negotiations.

Barcelona are also looking at other ways of decreasing their expenditures in the short-term, specifically via contracts. For example, Marc-André ter Stegen - who is close to signing a new long-term deal with the club - is expected to see his wages rise each year by a specific amount in order to give Barça more time to deal with the financial strain placed on them at this current moment in time.

It remains to be seen whether the players - or indeed the staff - will commit to Barcelona's proposal, but this will only see president Josep Maria Bartomeu come in for further criticism. This comes after it was revealed Bartomeu and the board would face a vote of no confidence after the required number of signatures were gained to call a meeting.