Real Madrid Considering Further 30% Salary Reduction Next Season

Real Madrid are considering slashing the salaries of some of their biggest stars by 30% next season in order to cut costs.

Los Merengues had already agreed to reduce the wages of their playing staff, coaches and some directors by 10-20% depending on the completion of the season.

This reduction was undertaken with the aim of avoiding applying for an ERTE from the Spanish government, as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have done, which would see the salaries of Real's non-sporting staff reduced.

The new measures being considered, however, would be independent of that reduction, according to AS, and would not come into effect until the 2021/22 La Liga campaign.

The article went on to explain that Real's total budgeted income this season, comprised of revenue from fans, friendlies and other international competitions, TV rights and marketing, totalled €822m.

The projected 'best case scenario', which would see Real Madrid lose 20% of this income, would amount to €165m missing from the coffers at the Bernabeu, with regular expenses of €741m accordingly impossible to make up.

The proposed 30% reduction would save €85m from the €283m wage bill of Madrid's first team, expected to be rounded up to a saving of around €100m once management and Real Madrid Castilla, their reserve team, are taken into account.

AS noted that Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos, as Madrid's biggest earners, will see their annual salaries drop the most, falling from roughly €14.5m to €10m.

Despite Madrid's optimism in refusing the ERTE that some money could be recouped by playing out the rest of the season, such an eventuality is looking increasingly troublesome in one of the countriest hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Though La Liga clubs are currently returning to training, a number of their stars have tested positive for the virus, throwing doubt on how soon a return to regular matches will be.