Ronald Koeman ‘is REFUSING to take £4m cut on his Barcelona pay-off amid club’s financial woes’

Ronald Koeman is refusing to take a £4million hit on his Barcelona pay-off following his sacking, according to reports in Spain.

The Dutchman’s 14 months in charge of Barcelona came to an end after their defeat at Rayo Vallecano last week following their worst start to a season since 1987-88.

Sportsmail understands the former Everton and Southampton boss was set to get a £10m pay-off as a result of the decision made by club president Joan Laporta and the board.

The Dutchman, 58, was sacked last week after Barcelona’s defeat by Rayo Vallecano

But according Catalan television channel TV3, the club now only want to pay the 58-year-old £6m, something he is unwilling to accept.

A journalist from the channel, Lluis Canut, told Radio Catalunya via SPORT: ‘It’s €12m (£10m) but I want to clear up that in this, there’s nothing to do with the money paid to the Dutch federation (to sign him), that was €5m (£4.2m) that Barcelona paid straight away.

‘I don’t know if in these 12 it includes what has to be paid for his technical team or it’s just him, taking into account that he delayed 45 per cent of his salary last season because of the pandemic.

‘In the first conversations they had they asked him to take a cut of around seven or 8m (£4m), far from the 12 they have to pay him.

Koeman was set to get £10m, but Joan Laporta and the board now only want to pay £6m

‘It’s a contract signed by both sides, not by the current board but it’s a recognised contract and it’s not about letting them off, it has to be paid.’

Barcelona’s financial problems have been well-documented, with the club confirming last month they made a loss of £409m in the previous financial year and were ‘technically bankrupt’ when Laporta became president once more in March.

Meanwhile, Xavi is the strong favourite to replace Koeman at the Camp Nou helm, but the club are also facing some wrath on that front too.

The former midfielder’s current club Al Sadd are reportedly angry with how Barcelona have treated the deal as done.

The Qatari club are desperate to keep hold of their coach, who has enjoyed major success in his two years in charge in the Middle East.

Former midfielder Xavi remains the strong favourite to succeed Koeman at Camp Nou

They even released a public statement on Twitter on Friday night, warning Barcelona off Xavi and reminding their coach that he has a two-year contract they expect him to honour.

It’s also claimed that nobody from the Catalan giants has even contacted Al Sadd to begin formal negotiations over a deal for Xavi.

According to Sport, Xavi has a release clause of £840,000 that Barcelona will have to fork out, although AS say there could be a gentleman’s agreement between the manager and his bosses in Qatar to let him leave for free. 

Xavi has managed Al Sadd for two years and joined as a player in 2015 after leaving Barcelona, who have placed Sergi Barjuan, the current coach of the club’s B-team, in temporary charge of the first team.

Barcelona’s struggles after Koeman have continued following their 1-1 home draw against Alaves

His tenure however began disappointingly with a 1-1 home draw against Alaves on Saturday night, leaving them ninth in LaLiga and nine points behind leaders Real Sociedad.

The club now face an enormously significant Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday evening, as they face the prospect of not qualifying for the last 16 of the competition for the first time since 2003-04.

Barcelona currently sit third in Group E, gaining their only points of the group stages last time out with victory against the Ukrainian side at Camp Nou after back-to-back defeats by Bayern Munich and Benfica.