After Gerard Pique, three other captains likely to face wage cut to help Barcelona

FC Barcelona had finally been able to register Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia, and Rey Manaj to play in the La Liga on August 14. This was all made possible as an agreement with Gerard Pique was struck with Barca's second captain’s salary being substantially reduced.

The club had released an official statement on their website that read, "FC Barcelona is able to register Memphis, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to play in the Spanish Liga de Futbol Profesional. This has been made possible thanks to an agreement with Gerard Piqué whereby the Barça second captain’s salary has been substantially reduced." The statement also mentioned that the club is currently working with the other two captains, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, to lower their salaries as well.

Pique says the wage cut was something he 'had to do'

Pique spoke to Movistar after Barcelona's 4-2 win in their opening fixture against Real Sociedad and talked about the wage cuts and how the other three captains, Alba, Busquets and Sergi Roberto, were also in talks to reduce their salaries to help the club in their current financial situation.

"(The pay cut) is what I had to do, I think. I want to stress that we've been in contact with the other captains over the pay cut and I know they'll take the same step shortly, it's just a question of timing. I had to be the first to do it quickly, because of the registration issue. But this is a family, we're all together, the captains have all had the intention from the first moment to adjust to what the club needed, and that's the decision we've taken and we're proud of it."

Jordi Alba was booed during the game against La Real amid rumours that the left-back had decided against taking a pay cut but Pique cleared the misunderstanding saying that he was in touch with Alba, Busquets and Roberto and that they are undergoing talks to figure out how they can help the club with wage cuts.

"Sometimes there are misunderstandings," Pique said. "I've been in touch with Sergi, Busi, and Jordi, and we've all been aligned, to try to reach an agreement. With hours left before the league started, they needed someone to make it official to be able to register the new players, but I know the others are also about to do it."

Barca offload players to help with the financial situation

This summer, Barcelona has managed to offload a host of their players on loan and some permanent sales, with regard to its senior squad that meant all of the players can be registered for the start of the 2021/22 season. Jean-Clair Todibo was sold for €8 million to OGC Nice, Junior Firpo went to Leeds United for €15 million, Trincao was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers for €6 million, Carles Alena was traded to Getafe for €5 million and Konrad De la Fuente left for Olympique Marseille in exchange for €3.5 million. The latter two transfers were at 50 per cent because they included the right to repurchase. In addition, Matheus Fernandes’ contract was terminated.

(Image Credits: @FCBarcelona - Twitter)