How Barcelona are set to lose €310m

Karan Tejwani

9 Aug 2022 09:56 BST
3 min read

Joan Laporta, Barcelona, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Barcelona have had a busy summer transfer window, having spent more money than any other club in Europe, and there could be some more money going out of their accounts in the coming months and years.

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This could be going to their own players, as part of a “money-saving strategy” which saw their players agree to new deals when the club were struggling financially.

Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Clement Lenglet and Frenkie de Jong agreed to new deals in the midst of the pandemic in order to help the club get out of the situation.

In those deals they signed in October 2020, the club offered the players lesser wages with the promise that they would be recouped later on in their time at the club.

At the time, the club saw this as a money-saving operation, as they hoped to save around €16 million, but it may not work out like that now.

The deals were signed under the Presidency of Josep Bartomeu, who left the club only a few weeks after and the club has since been run by incumbent, Joan Laporta.

Now, the club are looking to ask the four players to annul that deal and renounce the wage increases, as it could cost them around €310 million in wages.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Barcelona had written to De Jong, saying they were looking at legal means to get his contract annulled as they were ‘questioning the legality of actions on behalf of the parties who signed his renewal' in October 2020.

Barcelona agreed a transfer fee with Man United on 14 July over the sale of Frenkie de Jong. Less than 24 hours later, they directly threaten legal action against all parties involved in his most recent contract renewal. A truly fascinating course of events. https://t.co/nII8OzsXy6
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) August 8, 2022

De Jong has been a subject of intense transfer speculation since the start of the summer with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea interested in signing the player.

His desire is to stay at Barcelona, but the club want to move him on and earn a big fee from his transfer to help their financial issues.