Barcelona face a huge race against time to avoid bankruptcy and need to trim their wage bill by €190 million according to stunning reports in Spain.
Per RAC1, the club have begun negotiations with their players over a 30% wage reduction but terms need to be agreed by Thursday November 5 or bankruptcy in January is possible.
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The Catalan giants' income has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic with their club stores suffering on top of no matchday revenue coming in.
Interim president Carles Tusquets explained: "Our main concern is the cub's finances.
"The pandemic has affected Barcelona particularly hard. The club depends on tourism and now, all of that income has been lost; the situation is not very comfortable, we have to take on the ideas of the previous board to find a way of addressing the problems we are facing".
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One huge obstacle to overcome could be Lionel Messi's contract.
He attempted to leave Barcelona in the summer but was blocked from doing so, with his contract set to expire in 2021.
Should the 33-year-old fulfill his contract, he'll be entitled to massive loyalty bonuses.
On top of that, Messi earns a staggering €60,395,769 in yearly wages according to Football Leaks.
It means his average wage works out at around £988,000 per week with bonus payments reaching as much as £13 million a year.
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Former president Josep Bartomeu announced his resignation earlier this week and claimed the Blaugrana had agreed terms to join a European Super League.
He stated the decision was made to benefit the club financially.
Per barcacentre he revealed: "I can announce extraordinary news... Yesterday we accepted the requirement to participate in a future European Super League that will guarantee the economic sustainability of the club. Today we have accepted the new format of the Club World Cup."
La Liga president Javier Tebas slammed the announcement and accused Bartomeu of being led by Real Madrid's Florentino Perez.
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Bartomeu was led by Florentino. That is what I believe," Tebas told Associated Press per Marca.
"This league has been the dream of the president of Real Madrid... he has worked for it for a long time, it is nothing new. But it is a serious mistake, he does not understand the serious financial consequences that it will generate."
Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Champions League, La Liga