Barcelona is $1.6 billion in debt, so why should Gerard Pique take a pay cut? | ESPN FC

[@wayneb1597]

Pique is going to be club president one day, this just helps him in that. His wife Shakira makes $55 million a year and Pique has other businesses that make him money.

[@ani4226]

True ..

[@mattymc6802]

He was wealthy before football so that probably makes a difference too

[@swapnilshingote8773]

I have almost forgot about Shakira...Yaa but respect to Pique

[@jesseavdo]

Yeah, this is to help his presidency bid.

[@sonofamun8122]

shakira is a dope wife

[@dajag6846]

Is Sid following Pique and taking a pay cut and electricity cut? 😂😂😂😂

[@theking1095]

😂😂😂 sid you're electricity gone

[@notmuchgaming4917]

@King someone's barking

[@musicaccount7240]

For a second I thought my brightness went low.

[@theking1095]

@@notmuchgaming4917 ehh

[@myp0h]

Hahhhaahahha

[@DannyAzhar89]

The point that Craig made just reiterates how big a sacrifice Pique made for the club. Take a pay cut so that we can pay that money to a bunch of new players who Pique only met 2 weeks ago. If this doesn't show what standing up for your club looks like, I don't know what will.

[@DannyAzhar89]

@@davidmontgomery1442 agreed! Umtiti is getting paid more than VVD and Ruben Dias. Let that sink in!

[@hojetiveca]

@@DannyAzhar89 And Coutinho is earning MORE than Mbappé.

[@Olori-Ogun]

@@DannyAzhar89 when Umtiti signed his contract with Barcelona it had nothing to do with Dias and VVD so nothing is sinking in dummy

[@DannyAzhar89]

@@Olori-Ogun I'm talking about looking at the bigger picture. Clearly you lack some brain cells to comprehend that. :)

[@brainimp]

He has not took a pay cut, he only took a "pay cut" on the balance sheet to meet La Liga salary cap regulations, they will still pay him that money unofficially via an illegal backdoor, its what the Spanish are good at doing

[@l9ino170]

I agree with ESPN on this one, it's nuts to add more players after this, we DON'T NEED ANOTHER FORWARD when we have Griezmann, Depay, Braithwaite, Fati, Dembele, Aguero, c'mon why so stupid Barca and Laporta!!

[@Dami-dm5sj]

Barca need to go back to using la masia especially now that they don't have the finances to just sign whoever they want.

[@Chr1s7ian0]

I’d get rid of Braithwaite, Dembele, Coutinho, and maybe Griezmann

[@bingbong4055]

@@mitchrudolph65 they can 😐 they just don’t want too. there’s a difference in can’t and won’t.

[@karimC35]

Fati is injured dembele is injured aguero is injured what do you want to do? Play midfielders as strikers? Maybe you want umtiti up top?

[@Rocky-cf2xo]

They are nervous because messi is gone

[@shrekwazowski3836]

Pique scoring the first goal for Barcelona in the LaLiga season was well deserved.

[@gorandamianovici5720]

@King malaga is

[@Barcelona_fc99]

I am sorry for those people who say that Greater Barcelona is just a "Fashion" ... Barcelona is the history of world football, it has won 4 Champions League in just 10 years (2006-2015) and also 3 European Super Cups. and world of 3 clubs ... we are the best club of all time

[@arturomarquez7850]

@King no way a Malaga fan is actually talking. Haven’t heard not one person talk about them in years maybe centuries 😭😭😂😂

[@Anipaper_]

True

[@Anipaper_]

@King are you ok?

[@gutanmihail7733]

Kasey saying Barcelona is not going to compete for La Liga 🤣🤡 I agree about CL but they surely will compete for the domestic titles.

[@historianofmanythings4294]

Anyone with common sense knows that. Messi fans will try to make u believe that they won’t 😂

[@jainalmiraz5409]

@@historianofmanythings4294 im a messi fan, but I love barca, I support them no matter what, I would never want barca to suffer, or messi either, I love both.

[@Jaco._.]

Compete but not win. That team is trash!!

[@tonifcbarca]

@@davidmontgomery1442 How so?

[@tonifcbarca]

@@davidmontgomery1442 What about Araújo? Dest had been solid in all preseason games and against Sociedad, if he improves on his defense then he's lethal. Garcia played the whole Olympics + games for Manchester City, I'm sure he should have enough experience for a club he's previously played for.

[@spark556]

Pique is a true Barca legend

[@cloak-and-daggersbrother752]

Facts unlike me Even Tapindowski is better and bigger than me

[@akshaanmehra128]

@@cloak-and-daggersbrother752 people are like u q big regret to society. And u know that 🤡

[@soydegoatReal]

He is better than alaba ( i am a madrid fan)

[@stevencollins4615]

@King long live Malaga CF

[@soydegoatReal]

@King long live ur mom

[@veckgames]

Players shouldn't take pay cuts to pay off the debts generated by administrators' mismanagement.

[@jay-pm6zj]

im sure he will be just fine for money never gone to be stuck .. regardless . worry about the poor people in the world who dont have food are clean water pal

[@tnt9126]

Some players would rather try to win trophies and if a pay cut will facilitate that so be it.

[@BigBoiBleu]

All of Barcas problems would be solved if Griezmann took a pay cut. The guy isn't worth 880k a week. Pique and Alba at 150k shouldn't be taking paycuts, especially as club legends

[@nehemyah6986]

they should all take pay cuts, especially club legends to set an example

[@Dami-dm5sj]

I don't know if bartomeu was hypnotized by griezmann's representatives....the guy clearly wanted out of atletico Madrid meaning Barca held all the cards during negotiation with the player....all Barca had to do was to offer him a slightly upgraded wage from what he was earning in atletico and the player should've been alright with it.... bartomeu needs to be arrested ASAP because this is just unforgivable.

[@pleaseenterusername1959]

at the end of the day, Barca was the one who offered the contract...Barca in general is in the gutter

[@nicolewis8927]

Lets be real barca are a selling club from ever since they change the system with the signing of neymar , trying 2 copy perez

[@BigBoiBleu]

@@Dami-dm5sj Bartomeu was absolutely criminal. And Griezmann had everyone fooled by that one season at ATM.

[@smallcd]

7:49 Craig Burley. Legend.

[@gaphil2610]

Pique sees himself as future Barcelona president , and this time of his career, yeah he better take pay cut

[@danielharding1623]

*Future Catalan president

[@maroonmonkey7475]

It’s not laporta bro it’s koeman who wants a striker

[@hman8338]

@@maroonmonkey7475 huh?

[@henryewald9327]

Is that supposed to be something special. The Board is horrible and who would want that mes

[@BoxOfOranges84]

You know when companies say that they're a "family", and it's really just a tool of emotional manipulation? That describes Barcelona perfectly. Most owners and fans would be embarrassed for pressuring players to cut their own wages, and then booing players who don't comply. What a complete mess

[@jjryan1352]

Anyone criticizing players not wanting pay cuts is an absolute hypocrite.... they would never accept that for themselves in their own work.

[@BoxOfOranges84]

@@jjryan1352 exactly...it's mostly 14 year olds who have never worked a real job and have no grip on reality

[@ryukobestwaifu3319]

Real Madrid gives players wage cuts after 30 Barca having to give wage cuts because the wages are extremely high is the same especially when some of these people aren’t even in their prime

[@jjryan1352]

@Josue Garcia this is their 3rd "pay cut". If it's contract renegotiating anything is possible, but they should honor the contracts they made. I heard they promised a sort of long-term payment deal with MATS, to pay him later when they have the funds.

[@akshat9252]

@@jjryan1352 If Leo can take a 50 percent cut, Griezmann can surely take a 5-10% cut. It is not like he is dying without that 80k which most people make in a year.

[@bugsy791]

what's Keller opening his trap about....he doesn't think that Barca will compete for La Liga....i want some of what he's smoking

[@ninowizzler]

"We need to reduce the wage bill" - goes out and signs a bunch of players on high wages. lol.

[@ARJUN-SS]

Who?

[@mah-bv7oy]

@@datboidiego9164 their wage put together isn’t even above 10mil a year

[@mah-bv7oy]

@@datboidiego9164 Garcia and depay are already registered

[@TribekaGaming]

@@mah-bv7oy because of the paycut pique was essentially forced to make, how dense are you

[@kasinodaddy7693]

Craig is 110% right why should the other players have to take a pay cut when u keep bringing people in.

[@jonathanrambarran6115]

They need to take a pay cut because the previous board issued some ridiculous contracts. They need to rectify it... dembele and fati are injured and injury

[@jonathanrambarran6115]

@@datboidiego9164 bartomeu was the idiot. Barcelona's issue is that salary cap that La Liga suddenly imposed on the league. Eric Garcia and a number of other players would have negotiated their contract before la liga imposed this new rule

[@seyamrahman1002]

@@jonathanrambarran6115 those rules always existed wdym

[@jonathanrambarran6115]

@@seyamrahman1002 so la liga is the only league with these rules? Last season these rules didn't apply? Because practically the same squad from last season couldn't be registered this season even with Messi taking a 50% pay cut. The rules apply only when convenient to certain parties?

[@ryansheehan2117]

Those captains are getting older though despite their quality it’s also a matter of injury to wage risk as well creeping up on those captains that we all love so much.

[@J040PL7]

first time i see, in a tittle, someone answering a question they're about to ask.

[@pauldouglas578]

@King we all no stupid hope your team win ucl

[@loukanjima-bechard7180]

@King hahaha have fun in segunda

[@nextlevelnonce8884]

Lmaoo

[@nextlevelnonce8884]

@King aww why so mad

[@grobble8954]

They need to try to unload their dead weight bad signings that have big salaries. Coutinho & Dembele are the top of the list, Instead they are asking players that actually have been playing & contributing the last years to take cuts. Also unload Pjanic since Koeman doesn't ever want to play him, Umtiti is another one like Dembele that's constantly hurt & has lost his spot.

[@Nge7stars]

Are you slow? They don’t want to leave the club! Do you really think the new president hadn’t tried that yet? Come on..

[@grobble8954]

@@Nge7stars They can unload them if they are willing to take big losses on them, but still less than keeping the losers. Barca will have to pay a majority of the salary, but not all. Teams will become interested if the deal is good enough. Also any player that will not leave where they are not wanted & will not play, just shows they are loser, & unprofessional

[@pboyiyinbor6957]

@@grobble8954 u have clearly not run a business before, paying players to leave and losing their shirt sales and quality on the field which u need to keep fans coming back. This is what happened to Ac Milan and arsenal they lost their star players. Barcelona needs to strick a balance between being competitive which u need good players to do and make cuts. That's what they are doing now. Those players on hight wages needs to be pressured by the fans and board to take a pay cut and it working. Yes, Barcelona is trying to eat their cake and have it also.

[@grobble8954]

@@pboyiyinbor6957 Lol..What fantasy are you living in? The players that need to leave the most don't sell sh&t. Maybe you're missed it but they already lost their star..Messi, that drove their merchandise sales the most by far. Nobody is clammering to buy stuff with Coutinho, Dembele, that need to leave or Pjanic & Umtiti. They need to move them out, offer them at a fire sale & pay a portion of the salary, Currently they are paying all of for the failures & they failures aren't going to take cuts. it's better to pay 1/2 of a loser like Coutinho or Dembele's, etc... salary than all of it. They don't even play or are fit so you're paying all of their wages for nothing.

[@ranndino]

The problem is that they're basically unsellable.

[@footballsfinest5817]

Aguero and Depay and Garcia all took huge wage cuts so they are not on big wages

[@ojasathalye2881]

It's easy to sit there and say "Well don't sign those players, then". It is, however, not practical when your club is trying to build a competitive squad with whatever resources it has. What does this guy expect Barça to do? Not compete? Grow weaker? Barça got Memphis, Eric and Agüero on frees and low wages. That is some of the best bit of business done this season by any club. And in any case, what Piqué did is huge and completely fitting his character. There are still those who believe the club to be above all.

[@montymontiel8405]

Why don’t owners and managers take a pay cut?

[@akashjayachandran6884]

the owners of barcelona are its fans itself. Koeman also took a wagecut when he signed for barca. And also when his contract was renewed this year the salary was again reduced.

[@user-jp3hc4ux4e]

Barcelona dont really have an owner . They are a fan run club . Koeman already has taken a massive pay cut

[@rashidkhalid3970]

@@akashjayachandran6884 But clubs in the premier league most players had to take pay cut during lockdown e.g arsenal whose owner is one of the richest man why don't they pay

[@fgrodriguezqac]

Stop saying they are taking a pay cut. They are NOT… none of them are taking a pay cut, all they are agreeing to is for their salaries to be spread through payments even pass their contracts… yes, it’s helping the club but stop making them look like they are surrendering their money, they are not… Messi has been out of contract since July 1st, he has even left to another club and they still owe him over €50,000,000. Each and every one of them are getting their full pay even if it takes a bit longer.

[@ahmadridz1]

Dont forget Barto gave out huge wages to players undeserving of those salaries, case in point Umtiti, Pjanic, Coutinho, Roberto and to some point even Griezmann. Barca mismanagement is all down to the last board. Plus we dont have Qatar backing us each step of the way

[@hojetiveca]

It's because of Neymar: THE WAY he left the club made Barcelona's top management scramble to re-negotiate with almost all their star players in order to make it so those players COULD NOT leave the club THE WAY Neymar did, which is how those players suddenly got to earn so much. Barcelona did the same to their new signings, which aggravated it further. And Messi isn't innocent in all of this: he too was one of those that saw his contract re-negotiated and started earning even more. Since then he re-negotiated his contract @ least ONCE ... which only aggravated it even more. Now they can't sell the players because NOBODY wants to pay them what Barcelona pays them and the players refuse to leave because they can't earn what they earn @ Barcelona anywhere else.

[@ARJUN-SS]

@@hojetiveca why are u blaming messi for Bartomeu's mistake's 😁

[@AlricoAmona98]

It's not about " deserving " it was too high regardless of if they deserved or not

[@ahmadridz1]

@@datboidiego9164 Yes the new board will have to live with the previous board overspend. Whether tearing up contracts, loans transfers etc whatever they can to reduce the wage bill esp with players that arent even featuring in the first XI Ill be happy if they can get rid of Umtiti, Pjanic and possibly Moriba this window then look to move Coutinho on in the winter along with wage reduction of the captains and other high earners in the team

[@hojetiveca]

@@ARJUN-SS He took advantage of the situation as well as his importance to the club to demand more and more, thus aggravating Barcelona's financial problems.

[@sPRabZz]

If Sid’s light didn’t give out, this episode would have been 5 minutes longer of him explaining to Craig that the free transfers like Memphis, Sergio, and Garcia were ALL signed on under 110k contracts. I love the pundits that come to the studio, but none of them know the specifics of what exactly happened in Barcelona and what continues to go on

[@Sassefrasserd]

They should just focus on what happens on the field, because youtube channels run by a single person provide better information than ESPN does. Not just in this case either, they're constantly spreading misinformation.

[@orvilfuentes5444]

Nah he wouldn’t have mentioned that. The pundits in the studio have previously said that the new signings had huge wages and sid never corrected them on that .

[@C.J.80]

1) Pay cut was already discussed and Messi even left an IG post in '20. 2) Spanish Empl Law has always been there & La Liga salary cap was informed earlier. 3) Why did Laporta assume that Messi's contract renewal will be a success? 4) Why didn't he speak to all captains earlier? 5) I mean they would ask him to take a hike but still, Why not ask Griezmann, Coutinho, Dembele and Umtiti to take a paycut 6) Finally....Laporta decided to let Messi go 7) With a farewell which looked more like a funeral😤😤😤

[@tomideadeyeye4002]

And he kept talking when the light went off. So professional.

[@azizyeo4965]

I can't dismiss craig's point, but the fact that those players are cooperating in the first place is a clear sign that they know they're overpaid in the first place. The fact that Barcelona's presidency is obtained through a democratic process has been a curse in disguise given how long bartomeu was able to stay in power when everyone knew he was as shady as it gets. It's not really fair to compare it to any other club where an owner makes decisions alone. As for the players, you can't shout love for everything the club stands for, being academy graduates and captains from one side of your mouth and then refuse to discuss contract when the club is dying because of your wages (103% of the income without Messi). I get it if Griezmann or De Jong don't want to do it, but those homegrown players have had perks at the club for years and should look behind the blame deflection game and do what's best for the club now.

[@Ash-xo4oi]

Couldn’t agree more with you

[@Francisco_Otero]

Well said. After all, at Barça we take pride of being mès que un club.

[@jjryan1352]

So companies shouldn't honor their contracts but employees should "pitch in" when management ruins the company. Got it.

[@kaz2499]

I understand your logic, but here are some things I have thought of: 1. Players already agreed to take a pay cut to fund the Barca staff so they wouldn't be laid off. The ones taking pay cuts now are mostly leadership/former Masia players who I would think earned their majors considering they were a part of the most dominant squad in recent history. Messi covered his wages and then some due to Barca selling his image rights. 2. The methodology of governance can't be blamed for governance. The people in power and those who put them in power are to blame. Though, I am curious to know how much was hidden and how much was known. Politicians will do whatever it takes to get re-elected. 3. I do agree that Barca's guilty party is much larger due how it is a democratic process, so it is a false comparison to compare it to other business models. 4. I touched on it in point 1, but I would like to ask you at what point should players stop taking pay cuts? Should they play for free (or as close as legally possible)? Loyalty isn't on or off but a spectrum with people having a limit for what they can handle. Maybe you have especially high standards where you would be willing to work (cause it is a job) for free for your company if they provide you enough. EDIT: I just want to hear your thoughts as you have a genuine argument, so don't take this as some kind of trolling, if possible.

[@azizyeo4965]

@@kaz2499 As I said, I don't believe all players should be forced to do it as this is an issue of relatedness to the club. Contracts were signed and should be respected as much as possible (hence why griezmann or umtiti although with disproportionate salaries shouldn't feel obligated to do anything to me). I'm mainly talking about LA masia graduates now captains and all those who consider the club as a family and profited from it for decades now, when they didn't necessarily earn that money through performances, but rather seniority and in the process, where huge protagonists in the most humiliating displays for the club on the pitch. Sergi Roberto at his best would never earn more than 5M in any other club in the world, but because of his time at the club earns twice as much (Marcelo or Ramos never earned this much at real madrid in comparison when they're world's apart as players). In short, my point is simply that those who claim to be fully apart of the club before (as fans), now (as players) but also the future (as ambassadors or legends) should take actions to help the club financially because no matter the cause (and they all understand by their own admission that it's not due to the current administration), the most important is to save what can be saved. Maybe not play for free, but as we saw with piqué, taking a realistic paycut to align with the market would go a long way and maybe motivate other players to follow.

[@mustsilm]

Imagine Barca knocking out Psg this season.

[@Daniyalumer95]

Thats quite a possibility.. as big stars teams always crumble in ucl.. barcelona only won one with MSN.. and galacticos of real madrid only one..

[@neurophilosophers994]

Because Barcelona wants to register players to excite the fans and their profit isn’t high enough. But clearly Barcelona is going to need to work on profit for a long time to get out of that debt.

[@Ash-xo4oi]

@King imagine spending your entire internet/social media life trying to defame millionaire athletes. You are a weird, unhappy person

[@barunadhikary720]

@King Barkadoglona? 😂 Your creativity level is very good. Use this creativity in real live and try to get a job bro.

[@gorandamianovici5720]

@King malaga is

[@Barcelona_fc99]

I am sorry for those people who say that Greater Barcelona is just a "Fashion" ... Barcelona is the history of world football, it has won 4 Champions League in just 10 years (2006-2015) and also 3 European Super Cups. and world of 3 clubs ... we are the best club of all time

[@Dean-ui5js]

@@Barcelona_fc99 the history of football???

[@plainbagel9192]

I think Pique sees a business opportunity in this pay cut, wouldn't be surprised if he's promised a prominent position within the club

[@naville82]

According to Spanish press he took the maximum pay cut legally allowed in La Liga which is 50% from 240k per week to 120k per week. According to reports Sergi Roberto Busquets and Alba will be taking a 50% pay cut too.

[@edd0f]

Funny how they started to do it now that Messi is gone

[@naville82]

@@edd0f it was discussed already when they came back for the new season. So they have known since day 1 of the pre-season. The huge issue in the wage structure are: Coutinho 180k Pjanic 180k Dembele 240k Umtiti 240k Griezmann 880k. Also Frenkie de Jong is on 400k due to the stiff competition they had from EPL teams and to outbid them they had to offer a huge salary.

[@whatcanisayireallylikecurr9697]

@@naville82 well that just comes to show all those players came to Barca for the money and not for sporting reasons. There lies one of the problems for this team’s poor performances recently,

[@cloak-and-daggersbrother752]

Pique is Top 5 defenders of the past decade

[@soydegoatReal]

Top 3

[@SpanishBre]

Don't make me laugh. He's lucky to be top 10

[@honestpenaldo]

1. Ramos 2. Chiellini 3. Godin

[@killemsoftly15]

Chellini, Bonucci, Lahm, Ramos, Varane, Godin, Boateng, Thiago Silva all are above Pique for me

[@Barcelona_fc99]

I am sorry for those people who say that Greater Barcelona is just a "Fashion" ... Barcelona is the history of world football, it has won 4 Champions League in just 10 years (2006-2015) and also 3 European Super Cups. and world of 3 clubs ... we are the best club of all time

[@CyrilMphanga]

I'm not getting how this is difficult for people to understand. 1) A lot of Barça players are on exceedingly high wages (the previous board's doing) so it only makes sense for the current board to ask them to lower their wages. 2) As it stood the squad was underwhelming and was certainly not about to compete for titles. We blew the chance to seal La Liga so many times last season. So unless the current players are content with kicking the ball about while we get hammered by other teams and not actually winning titles, lowering their wages to sign new players is also in their best interest.

[@doubleuponbob3397]

Dear Cyril I don't believe it is going to be as bad as some people say it it going to be. Yes, losing Messi is a big deal, but when you look at players like Braithwaite, Depay and Griezmann, this change will give them the opportunity to rise to the occasion and show the world just how good they can be. I personally have a lot of faith in Braithwaite. He is strong, fast and always a hard worker on and off the pitch. Brings a certain grit to his game. Barca to win the league!

[@CyrilMphanga]

@@doubleuponbob3397 I am certainly hoping for the best and I will continue to support my team. I just meant that it makes sense for the board to try to add more players even if it means they need to ask the current players to take a wage cut.

[@TG1417]

I agree with Craig here. If you're taking a pay cut because people will lose their jobs makes sense but he shouldn't have to take a pay cut to register players because of mismanagement, even less so when the entire club knows they were in that much trouble before trying to sign those players. That being said it's commendable for Pique to do so and it'll stand him in good stead if he wants to run for presidency.

[@stevenmendez7447]

They need to buy players to compete. Without Depay, Garcia, Emerson, & Kun, this team would be immensely poor. Especially without Messi. The team needed to take paycuts anyways, we're still in a pandemic. It doesn't end at the captains, other players will need to take cuts too & some will be sold like Umtiti & Pjanic.

[@toby6790]

Finally someone with some sense, Craig really believes that a front line of braithwaite, griez & and never healthy Dembele is good enough? And by the way he ignored the defensive reinforcement and depth provided by signing Garcia. What a joke

[@noussommesparisiens6729]

@@toby6790 he saying the truth lol. The financial situation was inflicted by themselves. How does it make sense to keep signing players and asking your employees to take the pay cut because you can't manage the finances. That shows the inability of the board.

[@toby6790]

@@noussommesparisiens6729 yea sure criticize Barca for refusing to sale some of their players on a discount and inturn passively forcing their players to take a discount. But am struggling to believe that a front three without depay makes it into the top 4. Barca failing to make the top 4 or progress further in the champions will cost them more money.

[@robbieray9164]

The audit numbers didn’t come in till after the signings, they did not think it would be as bad as it was

[@ogunromon4927]

The audit numbers gives you an exact spending deficit of all transactions made. However, they all had an idea what terrible shape they were in before the audit numbers came in. It’s just desperately poor management

[@mahshshsrklingfa7031]

So you re telling me that I knew about the 1 billion debt but they didn't??

[@K.I.N.G_Jah]

But players had to take a pay cut reguardless, so the arguement doesnt make any sense.

[@TheTriniGooner]

They didn’t have to do anything. They legally don’t have to cut their wages as they signed a contract in good faith meaning barring any breach of said contract they must pay them their wage the players signed for. The only thing they can do to get out of a contract is if a party buys the contract out. It shows good character that they did but they didn’t have to do it. There’s nothing making them besides the club’s ethos of family and one club nonsense.

[@subtomeisubtou8231]

That’s the dumbest question I ever heard “why should pique take a pay cut if Barca is 1.6 billion in debt” the answer is obvious because we are 1.6 billion in debt Oh my goshhh😒

[@subtomeisubtou8231]

@King and that’s coming to us from an Arsenal fan😂

[@ARJUN-SS]

@King ur club is finished 😁

[@mmehdi3437]

People forget that Pique has been planning to become Barca president for a long time, I think you can count this pay cut as part of his campaigning money

[@kyg.avatar]

I'm embarrassed, Barcelona has lost the essence of what made us who we were, la masia roots, the moment we believed in big spending on names and not philosophy we were doomed.

[@aftp6646]

Bartomeu made us lose the essence. The generation coming out of la Masia is spectacular.

[@nett3876]

you know, before the pep era Barca's essence was like" buy superstars!"

[@aftp6646]

@@nett3876 Not always. During the Cruijff coaching era the team was full of youngsters from la Masia such as Pep himself.

[@godfreyonaimor9035]

@@aftp6646 go back 5-7 years and check if any good quality player emerged from the academy. Only Fati came out last season because he had inborn talent and was exceptional. Doulefou, Montoya, Cuenca, Tello, Munir etc were all promoted to the first team during their time many years ago but what happened? They were all bang average. Where are they now? I guess they are in some mid table team. If they were really good other big clubs would have bought them. Were they the kind of quality that would help Barca win the UCL. Should Barca continue to rely on mediocre players? If the academy cannot produce quality players theb the club will have no choice other than to visit the open market which Bartomeu rightly did. Please, I'm not Bartomeu's fan neither am I trying to defend him. I only try to figure out why the club reverted to buying more players than they should. The agents and the academy failed to find raw, gifted, talented players and lure them to the academy for fine tunning. That was why there was a dearth of quality players from the academy. Even now these academy players are being rushed into the first team because the club is broke. Most of them are just average. Compered to Barca of 8-10 years ago none of them will be called up to train with the first team. Tiago, as talented as he was then could not make the team. Can any if these players (Nico, Gavi, Puig, Moriba and Garcia) be compered to Tiago? Barca's lofty standard had fallen over the years because of inept management and selfish ambitions. Before Laporta decides to bank on the academy he should do a forensic assessment of the academy to know how or why they did not produce any top talent for many years and fix the problem. He should not fill the team with mediocre players from the academy to please the fans and followers and if the team does not win trophies he blames the coach.

[@aftp6646]

@@godfreyonaimor9035 Many of the players you mentioned won 2 UEFA youth leagues. Why some talents develop into world beaters and others not is pure chance. Thiago is not the best example. Even at his young age Pedri plays ahead of him for Spain. I'm not a huge fan of Thiago myself. I'm a huge fan of Gavi. Nico will be the DM of Barcelona in 2 years time. Fati will be a key player this season I feel. With purchases like Pedri and Demir and home-grown talent like Fati, Gavi and Nico the future looks pretty good to me.

[@pboyiyinbor6957]

Barcelona wage bill is the highest in Europe, those players do not deserve those wages they are on. That's why they needed to take a pay cut. For 3 seasons they had an advance in pay that they did not deserve. Now it time for Barcelona to pay them their real value and that comes as a pay cut.

[@alecnimez3927]

Pique is More than a Player ❤️

[@karamaswift5829]

He is still a multi-millionaire and married to Shakira, I don't think he is worried about his next meal so y'all shouldn't be either. Get out the mans pockets

[@roidjones]

It doesn't matter he shouldn't have to take a pay cut, the board have created this mess

[@ireplytostupidpeople4750]

Pique is taking a pay cut for someone else's mistake lol. That's the whole point

[@viscabarca8502]

ESPN must love the fact that Barca’s going through this crisis, it’s like a sequel to them, I don’t think a day has passed and they haven’t mentioned something about Barca 🤣🤣

[@orvilfuentes5444]

They love talking about the same thing over and over again. I guess it works because I keep coming back 😂😂

[@ARJUN-SS]

Views man view's 🤣

[@mechatronicsevolution1624]

Absolutely agree with burley there... That's rare af

[@kenkc84]

How could a club be so callous! Sign players left, right and center without thinking of their accounts! What a management!

[@banb9511]

Everyone at Barca need to work for free for 3 years to balance the books 😂😂😂

[@CharleyOlivesss]

Barca are broke but still payed 9 million for Emerson without registering these player's mind blowing

[@wamnicho]

Most football clubs are run by people with no financial background or knowledge, these are ex footballers who probably never even finished high school or even middle school but they were good at kicking a ball and after retirement go into management. That's why some clubs go into administration

[@edd0f]

They are signing players for their basketball team too

[@christomo1076]

They employed a scout and have a salary of 7 mil a year. Ridiculous.

[@mbulaikalamai4731]

I dont agree one bit with what craig says. Its a fooball 'CLUB' and not a football enterprise. Meaning we are a family. And when in crises a family seeks to help each other and its exactly what Pique did out of good faith, nothing more.

[@pglanville]

Lol. Grow up. It's a business.

[@mbulaikalamai4731]

@@pglanville i don't deny that fact neither do i deny the mismanagement of the club, its questioning why Pique did what he did a problem.

[@evilsultan]

Pique Alba Busquets a legends. However it’s either they stay at a much worse Barca team without pay cuts or they go to even worse teams at their age who will pay them less anyway. It makes sense.

[@karlhans4116]

Every barca player should take a pay cut. Griezman earn double of lewandowski Umtiti roberto earn more than 10M per year this is just shockingly disgusting

[@sid5417]

Griezman hit the jackpot why would he take a pay cut? not like he'll get an offer like this ever again

[@karlhans4116]

@@sid5417 Yeah that's where morality and being human comes into play

[@hyeongbeencheon6150]

@@karlhans4116 lol?? He was offered a ridiculous contract, and obviously he will take that. There is nothing to critisize if he just said no to a pay cut, because it was agreed between all parties. If he takes a pay cut, we should be thankful, and if he doesnt, so be it. Not his fault he got a contract that big

[@karlhans4116]

@@hyeongbeencheon6150 Nothing lol here. As a human you know what is right or not! It's not like Barcelona are in stable situation, if that was the case then I would agree with you but recently Barcelona are in this situation because of Grizzi Coutinho dembele and umtiti If you still not ready to take pay cut despite knowing 1. You are not worth that much 2. Your performance was below expected level 3. Club is in serious financial crisis because of some like you Then my friend you are a terrible person...

[@sid5417]

@@karlhans4116 Well Griezman spent most of his career at Atletico Despising barca and Real. Now he gets the last laugh. Similarly Gareth Bale enjoys Top 5th highest paid player in the world right behind Griezman. Atleast he's Won UCLs and got highlight reels to demand that salary

[@Maxguruify]

Barcelona is that woman that keeps shopping at the mall with credit cards knowing very well she has no money

[@franktraub4757]

Why should players take pay cuts when the management never does? All these clubs have insurance policies and their upper management will still get paid in full. None of them will ever cancel their vacations. Years ago when the banks crashed their top dogs still got their bonuses even though the common people lost their $$$.

[@vishwanathansridharan1826]

I feel this situation might have cropped up 2-3 years back only that is the reason messi was trying to going out but not any differrence of opinion with former president mr.joseph maria bartomeu.

[@RafaelSantos-di5yw]

What kind of question is that? That's basically saying "Why do you have to sacrifice some money for the club you love and want to do well?"

[@ashutoshmishra740]

Craig said that he would never take a pay cut .Of course you will not because you are not Gerard pique . Mes que un club

[@doubleuponbob3397]

Ah, so that's how they could afford all those players all those years. The simple fact that they did not realize they could not afford it...

[@PUREtrollin]

Wow alot of these comments aged poorly lmfao 🤣. Took 3 months and barcelona is even worse now 💀

[@niceguyst]

I did not think it was possible to create a headline like that. Step up ESPN, this is not sustainable.

[@ElMencho.]

He’s been with the organization for many years, I can see him taking a crucial pay cut for the club. I also see him in the future being the club’s president.

[@nsm6526]

I could see barca was heading the way of ac milan...some thought it could never happen because barca was rich...now we will see good players start to slowly leave them and them having to rely on their old players and hope for youngsters.

[@sundarsingh92]

My question is why did they not take the pay cut to let Mess registered in the first place

[@tonygarcia4032]

Messi just was making way too much

[@michaela.velasquez4784]

Craig has a valid point!...

[@ardtob]

They need to load off dembele and Coutinho asap

[@TheRisingMaster]

Come on Real Sociedad are a really good side. They're arguably a better side than Villareal who beat United and took Chelsea to penalties. If they looked bad, it's because Barca dominated them and made them look so. Try giving Barca a little more credit for God's sake

[@noussommesparisiens6729]

Sociedad parked the bus since the first minute. How are you even saying they're better than villareal is beyond me. Villareal won the europa not sociedad. Technically, they're better than sociedad

[@njd5592]

Someone takes a pay cut and ESPN pundits are concerned about this as if they lost that money😂

[@Alberto-qf7zh]

Believe me, they're not concerned, it's just part of their job. You would do the same if it was part of your job. Remember we're living in the "content creation" era. That just gave them a content to create another show.

[@yt.personal.identification]

All the other people employed at the club also need their wages paid...not just the players. Why are these people not being mentioned?

[@hman8338]

They earn five euros per hour

[@yt.personal.identification]

@@hman8338 If the players wages take up 103% of income, there isn't enough left to pay 5 an hour.

[@russellward4624]

Thank you! Finally someone asking the question I've been asking for weeks? If you can't afford to resign Messi why are you sign Depay and Aguero? It makes no sense.

[@flametoes]

Continually surprised by these guys’ ignorance. The club still has to try to compete for titles so of course they would try to better the squad even whilst facing financial difficulty. We complain about the love of money ruining football. But now a player is doing something because of the love of his club and you are openly opposed. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@aidenfrost10]

They are trashing the club for their mistake, did you completely ignore his point? Craig already praised Pique for that.

[@flametoes]

@@aidenfrost10what does your point have to do with my point?

[@ajayjaggernauth8500]

I understand how you could say that your not going to take a cut but bottom line is that this was always expected even with Messi. We would have to put ourself more in debt to get out of debt in the future

[@MMadi-bx5cq]

Can someone please explain, if Barcelona was supposed to have a 70% salary cap and they were on 95% after Messi's departure how come Pique's salary cut alone allows 2 new players to register within the same rule? Something doesn't make sense or am I missing something 🤔

[@bluefun22]

They really get confusing when they talk about money Specifically Craig because isn’t this what they are criticizing Gareth Bale for….He was offered a contract signed it in good faith all of a sudden people want to give up his money because a Coach didn’t like him

[@hm9627]

Craig actually has a very valid point

[@Lightbody33]

CRAIG 💥 !!! well you do have a point there

[@joeldsa06.23]

Taking pay cut at barca means you still earn more than the highest paid player in pl.

[@Erich_U]

There is no way that Pique's salary cut moved them under the cap. Not when they still spend almost 100% of the budget on salaries - AFTER Messi! Pique would have had to earn way more than Messi to make that work. This doesn't add up at all.

[@joshuamontijo4359]

Respect to Burley on his take here, Barcelona absolutely deserve the criticism right now

[@ubisoftgamingyt2165]

So Barca players could get registered. What else?

[@ubisoftgamingyt2165]

@King at least their better than relega CF. haha. Anyways fun fact. On a summer tryout camp in the US for Malaga CF in 2013 I was invited to their youth program in Spain. I rejected though because It became too complicated with school etc. But fortunately I made the Barca Residency Academy in Casa Grande AZ. I am friends with Matthew Hoppe from the Barca Academy. Now he’s in Schalke. He scored a hatrick in the Bundesliga and he is a US hero from his Gold Cup performances.

[@ARJUN-SS]

@King he kong malaga 🤣

[@nafeeztanveenchowdhury359]

This is perhaps the weakest Real Madrid side in long long time. Departure of Ramos and varane definitely made them lot weaker , also their midfield is aged now

[@ok-up4qx]

Nope lol. Benzema is still an amazing goalscorer, Bale seems like to have re invented his game, Hazard getting into shape, Vinicius actually scoring, Rodrygo doing well as a super sub... The midfield isn't old at all. Modric is old yes but Kroos is like 31, Casemiro is still 29 and got like 5 years to play, Valverde and Camavinga are both very young... As for the backline: Carvajahal who is an experienced and quality defender, Militao who has proven himself last season, Alaba who is a great partner to Militao since he is more attack oriented and Militao stays back, and Mendy who is a talented youngster. And dont forget about Courtois who is among the best goalkeepers In the world right now. You don't have a clue about what you're talking about...

[@agendemjossy6468]

Craig is just salty... what is d essence of taking big wage when ur team can not compete? Pique isn't u that d more difference.

[@saratchandrab4384]

100 years later, they will be still taking about this 😂

[@nicolasgraham8868]

For real 😆

[@barunadhikary720]

Not they. their grandson's.

[@goodvibes-seeen1354]

Craig has no principal, I am not surprised 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@NeilDuly]

Craig is 100% spot on

[@valenciafantv]

KZbinrs have higher production standards then espn nowadays… what a time to Be alive

[@Alex-kc4yv]

Because he loves the club and he didn’t have to but he choose to

[@ARJUN-SS]

@King 🤡

[@abm8773]

Imagine if Aguero leaves and sign for Madrid 😂😂

[@ARJUN-SS]

Ya Imagine

[@seonxavisemple9252]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Ano-jd7ne]

he is just injury bone player, always injured so please leave aguero

[@abm8773]

@@Ano-jd7ne you can’t afford to be picky mate. Barca can’t even afford a free agent.

[@matthewgoldie620]

where are the goals going to come from, Leo has been papering over those cracks for the last few years

[@godfreyonaimor9035]

The goals will come from other players. You wait and see. Leo has been scoring all the goals because he is the G.O.A.T and all the other attackers had been brainwashed to always pass the ball to him so that he will continue to be the G.O.A.T. Why were they always passing the ball to him? This season the players will breath fresh air because they have been liberated from the bondage of serving the G.O.A.T.

[@pixelbyte09]

Barca needed to sign few players to compete so these 3 signings were free transfers. Barca was in dept from earlier season but came out to public after Laporta was the president

[@ZZ-it1vy]

Barcelona wins 4-2 : Craig : they looked good. Real Madrid wins 4-1: Craig : I'm not impressed.

[@dman1719]

I think Craig has missed the point that these signings were made to benefit the club in the long term as they were free transfers and young enough also they made sense so they signed them banking on selling big earners such as Coutinio and Dembelle which would have allowed this to happen smoothly I Understand people will say they should have waited until these player were sold but they would have been taken by other clubs as they were free agents and if so Barca would have lost the chance to get them

[@AlejandroFloresrosales]

I respect the pay cut but I don’t think the new player should make more then him.

[@esdrasaguilar5782]

Pique loves our club and would do whatever for it. Pique is a legend. VISCA BARCA

[@soydegoatReal]

Unlike ramos

[@gorandamianovici5720]

@@soydegoatReal get a life

[@gorandamianovici5720]

@King shitLAGA is

[@esdrasaguilar5782]

@@gorandamianovici5720 Keep crying😂😂

[@DudeFromCleveland]

If anything they should of gave the new guys a pay cut. Why give a guy whos been the back bone for camp nou for 20 plus years? Guys like depay should of took a huge pay cut to join the team, them depending on his performance could determine his incentives for his second season

[@Sassefrasserd]

They literally did!!! The new players play for much much much less than they could've earned anywhere else. Memphis literally accepted a contract that had wages 30% lower than the initial proposal was, which didn't make him much money to begin with. All the new players at Barca are there because they wanted to play at Barca specifically. If they cared much about the money they would've gone elsewhere.

[@nicolewis8927]

Only when pique become sporting director of barca they will succeed

[@lamentspace]

And Busquets as coach

[@nicolewis8927]

Madrid is going 2 hav fun for awhile bt de X factor cud be ansu fati

[@ARJUN-SS]

@King bot🤡

[@rayshowtv2350]

Whatever it is, we must be thankful and grateful that during this hard times we have enough money to feed our family.

[@Cbart23]

How did they manage to manage this club into the ground?

[@Thegamingwizard9120]

1. Taking out bank loans to buy players. 2. Offering wages higher that standard rates. 3. Signing players at older ages for big fees, and then letting them leave for free/very cheap. 4. Higher salaries, compared to other clubs, for management, and behind the scenes positions. 5. The pandemic, worsened the whole situation. I could go on, but no one wants to read that.

[@ARJUN-SS]

Ask that to BARTOMEU 😁

[@dondorshullai]

When you love something sacrifice is just a thing you do....Pique is Mr.Presidente of Barcelona 💙❤💙❤

[@MasonMcGowan95]

I actually totally agree with Craig today. I understand Pique and his wanting and willing to do so, he even said last season he’d be willing to do whatever to help Barcelona get back to their ways. However, how could you agree to essentially pay out of your own pocket (Pique) for Depays wages alone, then also the team signing Aguero and Garcia? That’s ridiculous. Because it ultimately doesn’t help the club, as they’ll be paying him after he retires as well hearing they deferred payments too.

[@NoCluYT]

Aubameyang rumours are fake. We don’t want him, it’s just Arsenal trying to force him out.

[@ScrambledLegz]

I find it interesting how much these espn analysts miss when it comes to most team’s basics. For example regarding Barca, they’re just sticking to the basic argument of Messi big name, Suarez big name, and now they’re gone, it means bad. They have no clue about the age problem that the Cruyffista school teaches at Barça. Laporta isn’t here to keep 33+ year olds. I hear no words about Demir and Gavi and nobody understand how big of a deal that we saw Barça play high defense, high pressure football again for the first time in 3 years. While I absolutely believe Barça this year will be so much better than the last 3 years, you don’t have to agree with me. I’d just like to see analysts who understand the little detail instead of building their whole argument every week off last month’s headlines.