Real Madrid to Propose More Pay Cuts Due to Financial Impact of Covid
By Ali Rampling
Real Madrid will ask players to take a second pay cut as they continue to feel the financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Real team, staff and executives agreed to take a 10-20% pay cut in April during the early stages of the pandemic and the club opted to not spend any money during the 2020 transfer window.
The squad also agreed to forego the bonuses that they earned by winning the 2019/20 La Liga title in order to preserve the jobs of club staff.
According to ESPN, the club are currently finalising the budget for this season before presenting proposals to the Real first team, with players expected to be asked to take another salary cut.
Once the exact figure has been determined, talks will be held with club captains Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane.
The players are said to be 'sympathetic in principle' to the proposals.
Clubs up and down the football pyramid are suffering from a decrease in revenue due to the pandemic. There are fewer marketing and promotional opportunities and an absence of ticket sales, while the reduction in the tourism industry will also have impacted Real given the stature of the club and the attraction of the Bernabeu.
Rivals Barcelona are in a similarly tricky financial position and were attempting to reduce their wage bill by €190m in order to avoid bankruptcy.
The Catalan giants have since failed to agree a salary cut with the club's top earners after days of intense negotiating and are leaving the proposals on the table until 23 November in the hope that, upon reflection, some individuals may come around to the idea.
The club have been hit particularly hard by the demise of the tourism industry coupled with their sky high wage bill and were forced into a Financial Fair Play motivated 'swap deal' involving Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo to help balance the books during the summer.