BARCELONA
Coronavirus: Barcelona forced to change their current model
Barcelona's players make €245 million net per year and they have cut that with the 70% salary reduction but they still need to change their model.
Nobody is sure what will happen once the coronavirus crisis is over but many experts claim the football model we knew will change substantially. The lost millions, the possibility of games behind closed doors and the doubts about how the season will finish will create a new way that clubs are run if they want to survive.
Barcelona have found themselves in a particularly problematic situation. They have a squad on massive wages and it could but the future of the club in doubts in the medium term if they can't find a remedy. Barça have a €245 million salary bill and Oscar Grau, the club's director general, spoke in January about the difficulties this model presents and how difficult it is to sustain. They trimmed €30 million off their bill with loan deals in January according to Grau when they offloaded Aleñá, Todibo, Coutinho, Rafinha and Wagué.
Despite those reductions, the squad is still very short and remains the most expensive in the world. In fact, having yearly salaries of €245 and a first team squad of 19 players means they have an average salary of €12.89 per player.
And that is almost €13 million before adding in bonuses for each player. With the reduction in income, it means substantial changes have to come from somewhere. If Neymar does eventually arrive in Barcelona, it would lead to a complete clean-out. The Brazilian would become the second-highest paid player in the team behind Lionel Messi. Barcelona are looking at a complete over-haul if that happens.
Barcelona have managed to ease pressure for now with a 70% reduction in players' wages. Right now, that will save the club €21 million from the €245 million. That remains insufficient and will have to be changed with the avalanche of changes that are coming after the crisis. Josep Maria Bartomeu announced that "there would be more changes than money" and it seems we have only touched the tip of the iceberg.