Barcelona furlough non-playing staff despite Lionel Messi and team agreeing to pay cuts

Spanish giants FC Barcelona have furloughed the club’s non-playing staff amid the coronavirus lockdown. A vast majority of LaLiga clubs have suffered huge financial losses due to the suspension of the competition since March. Spain remains one of the worst-affected countries by the spread of the pandemic and remains under complete lockdown.

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Barcelona furlough staff amid financial crisis

According to Spanish outlet El Mundo, Barcelona were already under extreme financial distress before the coronavirus lockdown. The club have now lost on revenue due to the closing down of merchandise stores as well as the club museum. Barcelona have subscribed to the Spanish government’s ERTE scheme that seeks state aid in paying off the workers who have been laid off by the club.

Barcelona furlough staff: Barcelona pay cut to pay non-playing staff

The club’s decision to furlough the staff has come despite the team’s agreement to accept the Barcelona pay cut policy. Although earlier reports suggested that the players were unwilling to accept the Barcelona pay cut, later reports confirmed that the players agreed to the Barcelona pay cut policy without much consideration. Lionel Messi also openly announced that they had no qualms in agreeing to the Barcelona pay cut.

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Barcelona furlough staff: Club unlikely to achieve financial targets

Barcelona were reportedly struggling with finances since the start of the season. However, they were still expecting to reach the $1 billion revenue mark. The club have suffered heavy losses after their expensive transfers over the past two years. Major signings such as that of Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann have failed to provide the financial uplift that the club expected after the departure of Neymar.

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Barcelona furlough staff: Neymar deal might fall through

There have been reports suggesting that Barcelona are looking to rope in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Neymar. However, an El Mundo report suggests that financial stress is likely to hamper any possible attempt to sign the Brazilian international. Another report claims that Barcelona might persuade PSG to agree to a Neymar-Antoine Griezmann swap deal.

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