Barcelona breathes: 52 million less in chips

Barcelona communicated at dawn the official goodbye of forward Luis Suárez. For many it was bad sports news, since the team is left without one of its leading scorers, but for the club's finances it was a real relief, and almost necessity, get rid of the third highest tab of the squad (23.4 million gross), only below Leo Messi (70.7) and Antoine Griezmann (45.8).

Thus, President Josep Maria Bartomeu managed to pinch a good part of the salary mass of the first team squad, which is drowning the club's finances, and more since the coronavirus pandemic was established, reducing many income sections to zero since March.

This need to reduce the salary mass at all costs has basically identified three more players in the squad. Two of them are already out: Ivan Rakitic, which was the sixth highest earning player, with an annual salary of 13.3 million gross, and Arturo vidal, which was in the eleventh position, with 9 million.

The third is the most problematic of all because his situation is not exactly easy. It's about the French defender Samuel Umtiti, with a very high record, around 12 million gross per year, which places him today as the seventh highest paid, and with chronic degenerative problems in his left knee for two years. Some problems that he did not want to solve in his day, first because he wanted to participate in the 2018 World Cup with France, and secondly because he ignored the medical advice that recommended him to undergo surgery to solve such a serious injury. Right now its sale in the form of a transfer is totally unthinkable and the only options that are valued is a transfer, Barcelona paying part of the token, or directly giving it the letter of freedom.

The other player who has reduced salary bill with his departure is Nelson SemedoAlthough his departure has been more as a club need for potential income than his salary. In fact, Semedo, with 7.5 million gross, occupied the fifteenth position.

Total, Barcelona has already reduced the wage bill by more than 52 million: currently it is below 500 million euros. In any case, it must be taken into account that the reinforcements will also add up, although obviously they will be much lower tokens than those of the players who have left. In fact, everything indicates that the highest chip will be for the Bosnian Miralem Pjanic.

Bartomeu's initial ideal was to achieve almost 100 million reduction in the wage bill, but if it reaches 70 million he would be more than satisfied. The rest, until reaching 100, he wants to achieve by reaching an agreement with the captains, to that the staff assume a salary reduction for the remainder of the season, amount that would be paid in full in the next.