A host of Barcelona players have been left furious by comments from club president Joan Laporta and his request for them to drop their wages at Camp Nou, according to reports in Spain.
The Catalan giants have amassed severe financial worries over the last few seasons, with those problems contributing to the departure of club icon Lionel Messi in the summer of 2021.
That theme continued this summer, when Barca struggled to register their arrivals due to their bloated wage bill. The likes of Jules Kounde, Robert Lewandowski and Hector Bellerin saw their starts to life with their new club delayed.
In order to combat their financial difficulties, the club requested that a host of players take salary cuts so that the new signings could be facilitated. Former Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong and Spanish defender Gerard Pique were among those to have been asked to drop their wages, and agreed to do so.
However, it appears that Laporta was left frustrated by a few members of the squad that did not follow suit in lowering their wages at Barcelona. This led to some members of the board having to shoulder the considerable wage drops in order for the club to register their new signings.
Laporta said: “We have tried it [wage cuts] with several players and not only has it not come out but we have had to guarantee the €10million (£8.8m) that was missing. If there had been reductions of some players, that guarantee that we did should not have been made, we accepted it with sportsmanship.”
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Those comments have not gone down well with certain Barcelona players, according to COPE, which claims some senior figures have been left furious and surprised by what Laporta said and believe that his statement is misguided.
Barca face what could be a pivotal week in their season, with a Champions League clash against Inter Milan to come. Xavi’s men sit third in their group having only won one of their opening three continental matches.
Defeat by the Italian side would see the threat of falling into the Europa League for the second consecutive season become a genuine possibility.
Following that, Barcelona take on El Classico rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu at the weekend in a game that could go a long way in deciding the destination of the La Liga crown.
The Catalans occupy top spot in the standings having won each of their last seven league games. Barca have not won the league since the 2018/19 season.
