Gerard Pique agrees to take another massive pay cut to aid cash-strapped Barcelona: Report

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique has expressed his willingness to take another pay cut to help club register players ahead of the start of a new season. According to a report by The Athletic, Barcelona had opened talks with senior players over proposed salary reductions. The Catalans lost Lionel Messi to PSG last year due to their failure to register his new contract. 

La Liga news: Gerard Pique to take pay cut 

As per the report, 35-year-old defender has, in fact, offered to play for free besides willing to take a pay cut if otherwise. If Pique does take a pay cut then his new deal will continue to run until 2024 but on reduced salary terms. Last summer, Pique's decision to take a salary cut had helped debt-ridden Barcelona to register Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia. Not only Pique but Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and even Samuel Umtiti, agreed to a major pay cut for the club to sign Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres.

Barcelona signings Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen are yet to be registered before the start of a new season. While Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have options to throw away their contracts and chose to remain as free agents, the same cannot be said about the other three arrivals for whom a transfer fee has been paid by the club already.  The report further states that Barcelona have been formally told by league chiefs they will have to activate a fourth ‘lever’ — which could potentially mean selling up to 49 per cent of Barcelona studios, but salary cuts by players will help them reduce cost even further. 

Football transfer news: Chelsea on verge of agreeing on terms for de Jong

According to Sport, Chelsea and Barcelona are currently in advanced negotiations over the sale of midfielder Frenkie de Jong with the two clubs nearing an agreement for over a £67.6 million transfer. Earlier, Manchester United had reportedly already agreed on terms with the Catalan giants for the sale of de Jong, but the player was unwilling to leave the club because of his deferred wages.

As for his wages, reports claim that Barcelona owes de Jong a staggering £17 million in wages, and as a result, the Dutchman is not willing to leave Camp Nou until he receives the money he is owed. Hence, now it remains to be seen if the 25-year-old would agree on personal terms with the Blues or not.