Pique to the rescue! Barcelona FINALLY register new boys Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia – as well as striker Rey Manaj – after the veteran defender agreed to ‘significantly’ reduce his salary in order to free up space in their enormous wage bill
- Barcelona have finally registered Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj
- The trio have been registered after Gerard Pique agreed to a ‘significant’ pay cut
- Barcelona are in discussions with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba over pay cuts
Barcelona have registered new signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia to play in LaLiga this season.
There were concerns that Depay and Garcia wouldn’t be able to be included but Gerard Pique agreed to ‘significantly’ reduce his salary, as reported by the club’s official website.
Striker Rey Manaj, who impressed in pre-season and has previously featured for Barcelona’s B team, has also been registered.
Barcelona have finally been able to register new signing Memphis Depay to play in LaLiga
Defender Eric Garcia, who was previously at Manchester City, has also now been registered
All three players will be able to feature against Real Sociedad in LaLiga on Sunday.
Barcelona also revealed that they are in discussions with two more experienced members of the squad, Jordi Alba and new captain Sergio Busquets, to adapt their salaries to help the club deal with their financial struggles. Sergi Roberto could also take a pay cut.
The club’s manager Ronald Koeman praised Barcelona’s experienced players for their assistance with the situation regarding pay cuts.
Barcelona could only register Depay and Garcia after Gerard Pique took a ‘significant’ pay cut
He said: ‘We all know the situation that the club finds itself in and it needs help in any way possible.
‘Gerard [Pique], Sergio Roberto, [Jordi] Alba and Sergio Busquets have all been here for many years and they want to help and they have shown that. This is their club and that shows in this gesture.
Depay and Garcia both joined Barcelona on free transfers having previously been at Lyon and Manchester City respectively.
Manaj, meanwhile, joined Barcelona in January 2020 and has previously been an unused substitute in LaLiga.
Barcelona, who lost Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain, are enduring much difficulty financially.
Striker Rey Manaj, who impressed during pre-season, has also been registered for LaLiga
The Catalan club have found it difficult to move on high earners such as Samuel Umtiti and Phillipe Coutinho.
Despite opposition from Barcelona and Real Madrid, the vast majority of LaLiga clubs approved a deal with an investment fund CVC worth up to £2.3 billion.
The league said 38 of the 42 clubs from the first and second divisions in Spain voted in favor of the deal with CVC, which is intended to boost the clubs’ finances and help the league cut into the Premier League’s global dominance.
Barcelona and Madrid said that although the deal would inject a significant influx of cash into the league the next three years, the agreement would hurt the clubs’ income from broadcast rights in the long term as they would be tied to it for the next 50 years.
