‘The person in charge of this is not me… for that it’s my representative’: Barcelona’s Arturo Vidal speaks out for the first time since ‘claiming club owe him £2m in unpaid bonuses’ as he refuses to talk about possible Inter move
- Arturo Vidal says his lawyer is taking care of his dispute with Barcelona
- Vidal is reportedly ready to sue the club over alleged unpaid bonuses of £2m
- The midfielder says he’ll comment on his future when he returns to Spain
Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal says his lawyer is dealing with his dispute with the club after he lodged a legal complaint over alleged unpaid bonuses.
Vidal claims Barcelona owe him £2 million from the team’s qualification to the knockout and quarter finals of the Champions League, and says he should have received payments after Barcelona won the title.
The midfielder has so far remained quiet on the dispute but has now broken his silence after speaking to media from his home in Chile, where he is spending Christmas.
Arturo Vidal has revealed his lawyer is dealing with his legal dispute with Barcelona
Vidal claims he is owed £2 million in unpaid bonuses but Barcelona have rejected his claim
Barcelona recently released a statement accusing Vidal of trying to engineer a move
Vidal told Sport: ‘The person in charge of this is not me. For that it’s my representative and my lawyer, who takes care of these bonuses.’
Spanish outlet ABC says the player’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against his employers on December 5, outlining a list of bonuses that Vidal was supposedly entitled to.
He was reportedly set to receive an extra £2m in bonuses if he featured in 60 per cent of games last season, and he appeared to cross that threshold by playing in 53 matches in all competitions.
Vidal says he will comment on his future at Barca after Christmas, following links with Inter
But the club claim he does not qualify because he did not play a minimum of 45 minutes per game, saying the lawyers have misinterpreted his contract. Vidal believes he should receive half of the bonus, but Barcelona have reportedly refused.
Vidal has been linked with a move to Inter Milan and Barcelona recently claimed the bonus dispute was the midfielder’s way of engineering a move away from the club.
However, the Chile international has refused to comment on speculation, adding: ‘It’s something which I’ve already said I’ll talk about when I’m back there (in Spain). I’m on holiday and only want to talk about what happens there.’
Vidal has made 14 appearances in La Liga this season and scored five goals, while he still has 18 months remaining on his contract, which expires in June 2021.
