Barcelona presidential candidate Emili Rousaud insists Lionel Messi’s current salary is ‘not affordable’ for cash-strapped LaLiga giants… but admits he is desperate for superstar to sign a new contract and stay at the club
- Emili Rousaud says Messi’s salary is ‘not affordable’ given the club’s finances
- The striker is said to be earning an estimated £500,000-per-week at Barcelona
- Barca are now £700m in debt and boast a whopping £1billion-a-year wage bill
- Rousaud is, however, adamant that the club must secure Messi’s future at Barca
Barcelona presidential candidate Emili Rousaud says Lionel Messi’s current salary is ‘not affordable’ given the club’s financial state.
Messi, who sought a departure from the Nou Camp earlier this year, has less than seven months remaining on his contract with the Catalans and could be free to negotiate with alternative clubs in January.
Rousaud is adamant that the club must secure Messi’s future at the Nou Camp, but believes they must look to reduce his wages to return to their former glory.
Emili Rousaud says Messi’s salary is ‘not affordable’ given the club’s current financial state
Rousaud – who was among the six directors to hand in their resignations out of protest to Josep Maria Bartomeu’s management of the club – said the future of Barcelona is in Messi’s hands.
Rousaud added that the club can’t make cuts ‘everywhere’ and that the responsibility falls to the player himself.
Rousaud also states that should Messi leave in January, it will not be down to the money.
Rousaud told Spanish newspaper AS: ‘We can’t just cut everywhere, and that’s it because we would become small and we have to think big.
‘The future [of the club] is in his hands, but at the moment Leo’s salary is not affordable.’
Rousaud (above) is, however, adamant that the club must secure Messi’s future at Barcelona
Spanish giants Barcelona are in financial turmoil amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
Rousaud said Messi’s revised salary would be based: ‘on the sporting project’ of the club.
Rousaud added that Messi is ‘a winner and if he goes it won’t be to be paid more. Leo Messi is the player who has given most to Barca in their history and what Messi has given is quantifiable.
‘We won’t speak with the player until we are in power, but the person that brought him to Barcelona is in this bid, Jose Maria Minguella.’
Reports by the 2020 Deloitte Money League showed that Barcelona had be ranked as the club with the biggest revenues in European football prior to the pandemic.
Barca’s interim president Carles Tusquets believes selling Messi would be better financially
However, the Spanish giants are now £700million in debt and boast a whopping £1billion-a-year wage bill.
Messi is contributing significantly to their financial struggles. by earning an estimated £500,000-per-week from Barca.
Although Rousaud is looking to simply lower Messi’s wages, acting Barcelona president Carles Tusquets believes selling Messi would be better financially for the club.
