Barcelona Are Hoping Gerard Pique Retires To Avoid Paying His Outrageous Wages
Barcelona are reportedly hoping Gerard Pique announces his retirement at the end of next season to avoid paying him €80 million in wages.
The Catalan giants are still struggling financially and the details have been catalogued over the last two years.
A number of players have been sold at a reduced price to shift their wages and last summer, they didn't have the capacity to sign Lionel Messi to a new deal.
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RAC1 have now claimed the Blaugrana want club legend Pique, who has already taken a pay cut to help out, to retire in 2023 to slash his salary from the books.
Barcelona already owe the 35-year-old a whopping €50 million but he's not kicked up a fuss about that yet.
His contract doesn't expire until 2024 so it's likely he sees that out rather than step away from the Camp Nou in 12 months time.
Pique has been a standout player for Barcelona in a tricky season, featuring 39 times in all competitions and helping Xavi's men to a second place finish.
He regularly started alongside Ronald Araujo in central defence and the duo struck up a great partnership.
Despite their financial issues, Barcelona still want to make a number of signings in the transfer window.
Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen are expected to join as free agents after seeing their AC Milan and Chelsea deals expire.
Robert Lewandowski is keen on a move from Bayern Munich and insists he'll be leaving the Bundesliga giants no matter what.
In order to achieve this, however, the Catalan giants may have to make sacrifices.
Frenkie de Jong could be the biggest casualty, with the midfielder linked to Manchester United.
The Red Devils welcomed new manager Erik ten Hag last month and he worked with de Jong at Ajax.
He's identified the Netherlands international as a top target and Barcelona's hierarchy are open to selling.
Xavi is reluctant though and considers de Jong as a key part of his team.
Topics: Gerard Pique, Barcelona, La Liga
Daniel Marland