Obliged by Barça’s delicate economic situation, the basketball section has decided to start a new cycle in the summer with important adjustments to the squad. After almost three years of unsuccessfully negotiating the salary reduction of the most prominent players, the cuts imposed by the office of president Joan Laporta are a duty this season. Of the almost 40 million euros in current sports wages, the limit has been set at 27.2 million, a budget that is still very relevant in the European arena, but which makes the departure of players like Mirotic essential. The relief on the bench, on the other hand, has been more hasty and has not only taken place due to monetary aspects.
Until less than a week ago, Barça and Jasikevicius were working with the idea of ??extending their relationship in the absence of an agreement. On June 6, the two parties sat down and the club – Juan Carlos Navarro and Mario Fernández, the heads of planning -, through a long presentation, explained to the Lithuanian the idea they had for the next season in terms of names and also some changes of the game idea. The harmony was good, but not perfect, despite the fact that the coach was open to entering into the policy of salary reductions.
There was another meeting on Thursday and it was then that a rift between the two sides began to be drawn in earnest. The coach wanted to remain faithful to his way of working and from the technical secretariat they wanted to introduce variants, such as the fact that the team at times did not play so narrowly according to the system and that certain players were given more freedom, including Kevin Punter, Barça’s big bet of the summer, who has the club in suspense awaiting an answer – there is optimism – and who was one of the names that did not convince Jasikevicius precisely because of the quality of free verse with the ball
Despite the differences, the club’s idea was to work on it and continue with the coach. From the last meeting, the final renewal offer was born, with a substantial reduction in the fixed salary and a very large variable in the event of winning the Euroleague to match the current salary (3.6 million). The coach’s agent, who is also Mirotic’s, made a counteroffer that the club understood as an invitation to farewell, as it happened.
The hasty farewell of Jasikevicius forced Barça to look for a new tenant for the bench, which did not take long to find. Roger Grimau, captain of the last Euroleague and coach of the subsidiary, met almost all the requirements. In fact, he already flirted with the idea of ??being Jasikevicius’ assistant last year, but it didn’t come to fruition. Despite the lack of experience in the elite – no one has it until they give him an opportunity – he adapted to the changes in philosophy that they wanted in the offices and fit doubly into the club’s plans in the financial field: he signed with a much lower salary than the predecessor and knows perfectly well all the youngsters, whose presence will increase this year in the first team and therefore also lower the wage bill.
The defeat in the final four against Real Madrid finally pushed the club to make the decision to do without Mirotic. On the Thursday following the KO of Kaunas, Barça informed the agent of the intention to reach an agreement for the termination of the contract. 24 hours later, Navarro sat down personally with Mirotic to explain the situation to him in a very sincere talk by both parties. That’s why the player’s harsh statements to Mundo Deportivo caused so much surprise at the club a day before the Liga Endesa final.
Right now, the situation is at a standstill. In the two years left on his contract, Mirotic should receive 22 million, and Barça has already made him four offers that he has rejected. The club’s poor relationship with the agent does not help and, if there is no agreement before June 30, the club will terminate the contract and a judge will have to decide the final compensation. The Barcelona argument for not disbursing the entire contract will be the disproportionate increase in the salary in the last renewal, in September 2020.
Navarro is working with the idea of ??introducing two or three new players to the squad and making a strong bet on young people. Caicedo, on loan this year to Granada, will be, together with Nnaji (the club hopes he does not go to the NBA), the one who will have the most prominence. If the signing of Punter comes to fruition, work will be done on the arrival of a quarterback to cover the void left by Mirotic. In the chapter on departures, aside from those already mentioned, Tobey and Kuric have no place in the Blaugrana team and Sergi Martínez could go on loan to encourage his growth.
