Gerard Pique Becomes Barcelona's Victim To Be Able To Register New Players To La Liga

Gerard Pique (PHOTO/INSTAGRAM @3gerardpique)

JAKARTA - Gerard Pique may receive another pay cut so that Barcelona can register the names of their new players to Spain's La Liga.

The Catalan club has been very active in this summer's transfer window despite financial problems. They managed to add Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and Jules Kunde, to the squad.

However, they are threatened with playing the first week of La Liga Spain 2022/2023 against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on Sunday, August 14, without the new names because they have not been registered.

To register Lewandowski and the new arrivals, Barcelona had to activate the fourth economic lever and cut the salary of one of their players.

For the problem of salary cuts, Gerard Pique is called again to be a victim. The defender most likely agreed to the policy to save his club.

The reason is, that the fourth economic lever and Pique's salary cuts are the only way for Barcelona to register their five new players.

Pique himself is known as a figure who is quite loyal to the club. He previously took a 'substantial' pay cut in August to help Barcelona register Eric Garcia, Rey Manaj, and Memphis Depay.

The 35-year-old posted a picture of a statement from the bank in January to prove he had taken a pay cut. The reason, some reports in Spain allege Pique still earns almost half a million pounds per year.

Previously, Barcelona had activated its three economic levers. The last lever that was activated was to sell a 25 percent stake in Barca Studios to Socios.com for 100 million euros last Monday.

According to The Athletic report, Barcelona will activate the fourth economic lever by selling Barca Studios shares up to 49 percent. Previously, the club had also sold 25 percent of their La Liga broadcasting rights to US company Six Street over the next 25 years.

For the sake of financial health, Barcelona was reportedly forcing several players to leave. One of those pressured to leave Camp Nou is midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

The Netherlands international is wanted by Manchester United and Chelsea but has so far preferred to stay at Camp Nou. Meanwhile, Martin Braithwaite is also demanding full compensation for the last two years of his contract before leaving.

This led Barcelona fans to jeer at the 31-year-old during the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Mexican club Pumas UNAM on Sunday.

Although they have not been able to register new names, the Blaugrana still intends to buy players in the rest of the transfer window this summer. Two names associated with them are Marcos Alonso and Bernardo Silva.