A wise investment…
Barcelona are set to offer veteran full-back Dani Alves a pay rise as part of a contract extension to keep him at the Nou Camp beyond the end of this season.
The 38-year-old returned to Barça on a free transfer in November but was unable to play until January due to LaLiga’s registration rules.
Alves was also excluded from Barcelona’s Europa League squad for the knockout stages as they favoured in adding their other winter window signings to their 25-man squad instead.
It was reported that when the Brazilian returned to work under former team mate Xavi, Alves became the lowest paid player at the club in order to keep the Catalan club in line with the Spanish top-flight’s wage cap limit.
However it now appears that Alves will stay at the club beyond the end of the season and in doing so, will reportedly be offered a significantly higher salary to reflect his importance to the team.
The decision will likely cause some controversy given Barcelona’s previous financial mismanagements. Whilst performances have improved on the pitch, the Catalan club are still heavily in debt and in desperate need of reducing their wage budget.
Players such as Philipe Coutinho still technically remain on their books, despite his loan move to Aston Villa, whilst Samuel Umtiti was also offered a new higher-paid contract despite the club’s repeated attempts to offload the defender.
Meanwhile Barcelona have been heavily linked with Chelsea’s defensive duo César Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen in recent weeks, both of whom will be available on a free transfer in the summer, as they attempt to rebuild their squad.
Related links:
- Ousmane Dembélé booed by Barcelona fans during Napoli game
- Barcelona sell naming rights to Camp Nou in Spotify sponsorship deal
- Joan Laporta imposes strict salary cap in a bid to help Barcelona’s financial chaos
