Only Pique from the Barcelona squad accepted pay cut to help fund Messi staying

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Gerard Pique is reportedly the only Barcelona player who agreed to take a voluntary pay cut in an attempt to reduce their out of control wage bill.

Barcelona are currently operating far beyond their financial limits with their wage bill still at 95 per cent – 15 per cent more than La Liga regulations allow.

The debacle has led to extraordinary circumstances over the past week where the club could not offer Lionel Messi a new contract without breaking the Spanish league’s financial rules.

The Argentine magician had agreed to a new five-year contract on 50 per cent less wages but that would have brought the wage bill up to 110 per cent, meaning he was left with no option but to leave.

Now a senior Barcelona board member has revealed that only Pique was willing to lower his wages ‘on his own accord’ in order to help the club out financially.

Jaume Llopis had been a member of the Espai Barca Commission and acted as a senior advisor to club president Joan Laporta, until his resignation due to Laporta’s handling of the Messi situation.

Speaking to El Larguero, he said: “We will see if Barca is capable of lowering the salary bill.

“The only one who has agreed to reduce his wages on his own accord has been Pique. The rest, not one.”

In his published resignation letter, Llopis launches a scathing attack on Laporta by claiming he will be remembered as the one ‘who fired Messi’.

Do you think Messi will ever return to Barcelona as a player? Let us know in the comments section.

Meanwhile, it comes as a surprise that the only Barcelona veteran in the squad to opt to lower his wages was Pique.

Pique, 34, is a childhood friend of Messi’s stemming back to their days at La Masia.

The defender wrote an emotional farewell message on social media in which he showed his resentment towards Messi leaving.

He said: "Nothing will be the same again. Neither the Camp Nou, nor the city of Barcelona, nor ourselves.

"After more than 20 years at the club, you will stop wearing the Barca T-shirt. Reality, sometimes, is very hard.”

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• La Liga
• Lionel Messi
• Barcelona FC

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