For Barcelona to ride through the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, club officials have asked the players to accept a pay cut, which reportedly was amenable to superstar Lionel Messi. However, a cluster of the Barca roster is said to be opposed to the proposal, specifically to some of the terms contained in the offered agreement.
Talks between the players and management are underway and supposedly, Messi is representing the interest of his teammates. For most of the players, the proposed salary reduction came off as a necessary measure in light of the COVID-19 that resulted in the La Liga suspension but there are members of the team who are unhappy with a number of specific terms.
According to Bleacher Report: "Negotiations between the club's captains and the board of directors are ongoing. Sources explained that the players are willing to take a hit to their salaries but they are not happy with the terms that have been suggested by the board so far."
The report picked up an earlier story from ESPN.
It is understood that a group of players were in disagreement with board members of the club, which is delaying the finalization of the talks. It would seem that while the players do understand that the pay cut is necessary, considering that the game stoppage has hit the club revenues, there are contents of the proposed deal that the players found unacceptable.
One group of the Barca players include Messi and according to Metro, the football millionaire is said open to the proposed pay cut as he understood that the club's daily sales of tickets and merchandise have been hit hard by the league's decision to suspend the games indefinitely.
However, there is a camp in the Barcelona players that turned down the salary adjustment. The group argued that the club board was to blame for the financial difficulties, citing the money wasted on transfer deals last year that turned out to the team's disadvantage.
Per the same report, implementing the wage cut is crucial to Barcelona's survival in the middle of the health crisis as salaries of the players eat up the majority of the club's operations, estimated to be at 70 percent.
It appears that Barcelona is hoping that players will be inspired by the initiatives from other leagues in Europe. In Bundesliga, top-flight clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have convinced players to reduce their pay while the coronavirus pandemic has yet to be controlled. The former is said to be slashing players' pay by up to 20 percent and won approval from the roster.
