Barcelona

Barcelona 'failed to pay players' wages in December'

By Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter | 26 January 2021

Barcelona reportedly failed to pay any of their first-team players in December as the club struggle to cope financially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Barcelona have reportedly failed to pay any of their first-team players in December as the club have struggled to cope financially since the coronavirus pandemic struck European football last March.

Squad members of the Spanish giants usually get their salaries paid to them in two installments, the first in June and another in December, however the players have not yet received their second payment.

Spanish radio station Cadena COPE reports that the Catalan club's financial situation is 'extremely delicate' and that they still owe 19 clubs around £112m in transfer fees, with Liverpool due around £25m from the sale of Philippe Coutinho, who left Anfield in January 2018.

While other clubs across Europe had agreed payment deferrals with their players at the beginning of the pandemic, Barcelona only managed to do so with all of their first-team squad at the end of November.

It has been estimated that such wage cuts could help the club save up to £109m, although they had hoped for that figure to be closer to around £170m.

Defender Gerard Pique and midfielder Frenkie de Jong were among those who took pay cuts in April last year, however star names such as Lionel Messi, whose salary is believed to be worth around £26m per year, only agreed to reduce his terms in November.

It has also been reported that Barcelona have a negative working capital of £535m, which is mainly due to a huge decrease in revenues caused by matches being played behind closed doors while the club continue to pay high wages.