Gerard Piqué, one of the highest players in the squad, will leave the club a year and a half before the stipulated in his contract, which linked him to Barcelona until June 2024. Although the details of the agreement have yet to be defined, since the center-back announced his goodbye without previously informing anyone from the club, Piqué’s intention is to forgive the remaining year and a half of his contract. An amount that, as confirmed by this newspaper, ranges between 30 and 35 million euros.
In the entity they hope to be able to invest that amount in the transfer market. However, as Piqué is a footballer with a valid contract, they must first ensure that his departure and the corresponding oxygen balloon that he represents for the club at the salary level, comply with the financial fair play regulations for this course. It will depend on the interpretation of LaLiga, which is chaired by Javier Tebas.
To propose the strategy to follow next week, a meeting is scheduled with the club’s finance department to review Piqué’s contract and update the figures for both the annual budget and the excess wage bill. It should be remembered that salaries amounted to 518 million in the last winter market with the arrival of Ferran Torres, Aubameyang, Alves and Adama Traoré and that now it reaches 656 million, as reflected in the budget for this season, after the arrival of Lewandowski , Raphinha, Marcos Alonso, Kessié, Christensen, Bellerín and Koundé.
Club sources assure that the departure of Piqué, Alba and Busquets would save the club some 120 million euros. Without the first, Barcelona manages to get rid of one of the highest chips.
“Is it a priority to sign a central defender in January? Knowing that Piqué is leaving, maybe yes, but we have time to talk during the World Cup break. We will meet with Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff and we will analyze it”, said Xavi Hernández. Iñigo Martínez, whose contract with Athletic ends in 2023, is an option for January. But his clause of 80 million is the big obstacle for the Blaugrana, who also do not rule out signing a midfielder already thinking about the goodbye of Busquets.
