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Barcelona are reportedly ready to terminate the contracts of club legends Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique in January despite the pair being owed a combined €145 million.
According to Sport, the Blaugrana are again looking to improve the squad in January, which would mean further reducing their wage bill. The club have already begun negotiations for Pique and Alba to leave the club as both are deemed surplus to requirements.
Barcelona are hopeful that the two players will agree to the termination but it will not come cheap. Pique, whose contract expires in 2024, is reportedly owed a mammoth €80 million in deferred wages.
Meanwhile, Alba, who has played just eight times this season, is owed €65 million, with his deal also set to expire in June 2024. The need for Barcelona to raise funds has been heightened due to their dreadful performances in the Champions League.
Pique and Alba have made over 1000 appearances for the club between them but the Catalonians clearly feel that they need to freshen things up in defense.
The five-time champions of Europe have been knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League for the second consecutive season. Their misery was compounded when they lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich at Camp Nou on Wednesday (26 October).
Xavi claims Barcelona need to face 'reality' following early Champions League exit
Pressure is starting to mount on manager Xavi Hernandez following a difficult evening for the Blaugrana, who are currently three points behind Real Madrid in La Liga.
While the Barcelona manager recognized that the Bayern Munich defeat was damaging, he claimed his side will learn from the defeat. He told reporters after the full-time whistle (as quoted by BBC Sport):
"This is our reality and we need to face it. Maybe that's what we needed, to be given a beating in order to grow. It was already over, too late to do anything. The main reason that we got to this situation was because of our own mistakes in the previous games, we failed to be effective up front."
Superstar midfielder Pedri was far less complimentary of his team, as he insisted that the Blaugrana 'don't deserve to be in the Champions League. The wonderkid further stated:
"For me, it's a failure."
