Barça agrees with the players a salary cut of 122 million

Barcelona players celebrate a goal during the Gamper Trophy.JOSEP LAGO / AFP

After the meeting this Friday between the legal representatives of the players of the first team and the Barcelona subsidiary and the management committee, an agreement has been reached to readjust the salary cost in the current season.

The pact, in any case, has to be ratified.

The lawyers of both parties stipulated a reduction in salaries of 122 million euros in fixed remuneration, while the variables, budgeted at 50 million, will be deferred during the next three years.

"Aware of the great interest and concern with which all Barcelona fans have followed the work of this commission, we have decided to make a joint statement," they published.

And they continued: "The agreement, if it is ratified, is a highly transparent act to redirect the current economic situation."

The lawyers who led the talks also congratulated themselves for the great effort made to achieve the pact.

The negotiation was not easy.

In total, there were seven meetings between formal and informal.

The negotiating table between Barcelona employees and the management committee was set up on October 21.

Not all players participated in any case.

Ter Stegen, Piqué, Lenglet and De Jong had already agreed with the then president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, an extension of their respective contracts, which already included the "temporary salary adjustment", as they called it in the club's offices.

It meant that the four footballers accepted a reduction in salary during the 2020-2021 season, in exchange for more years linked to the Barça club.

The problem, for the board of directors at that time, was that the rest of the first team players did not want individual agreements or be part of a negotiating table with the rest of the club's employees.

Bartomeu and his directors presented their resignation and the management committee chaired by Carles Tusquets took the witness.

“The idea is to defer payments and reach an agreement that favors all parties.

We don't want to take money away from anyone, ”Tusquets explained.

And he assured that the club needs an effort of 300 million to balance the budgets.

From the outset, the idea of ​​the commission was to lower the salaries of the players by 190 million.

However, his intention was that what the club saves in the 2020-2021 season in salaries will be paid in 10 years.

The players who were predisposed to compromise on the reduction of their salaries did not agree with either the amount or the payment terms.

After the negotiation, the management committee or the new president will have to continue looking for other savings mechanisms to balance the budgets in the current season.