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Gerard Pique has revealed all Barcelona captains are set to take wage cuts. The Spaniard agreed a substantial cut last week to help the club register their new signings.
Barcelona's wage bill has just about reached the levels set by LaLiga, but they still have some work to do. Lionel Messi's exit helped them a lot, but they are still looking at the senior players at the club to agree a cut.
Following Barcelona's impressive 4-2 win over Real Sociedad in the season opener, Gerard Pique confirmed talks were going on behind the scenes. He added that the three other captains of Barcelona – Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Sergi Roberto – were also in talks to reduce their wages to help the club. The 34-year-old told Movistar:
"[The pay cut] is what I had to do, I think. I want to stress that we've been in contact with the other captains over the pay cut and I know they'll take the same step shortly, it's just a question of timing.
"I had to be the first to do it quickly, because of the registration issue. But this is a family, we're all together, the captains have all had the intention from the first moment to adjust to what the club needed, and that's the decision we've taken and we're proud of it."
Barcelona fans boo Jordi Alba
Reports ahead of Barcelona's LaLiga opener against Real Sociedad suggested Jordi Alba was unwilling to take a wage cut. That did not go down well with some of the Catalan club's fans, and the left-back was booed during the match.
Clearing the the air regarding the issue, Gerard Pique said:
"Sometimes there are misunderstandings. I've been in touch with Sergi, Busi and Jordi, and we've all been aligned, to try to reach an agreement. With hours left before the league started they needed someone to make it official to be able to register the new players, but I know the others are also about to do it."
Barcelona next face Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. They will be keen to win once again and continue their good start to the season.
