Barcelona are looking to convince Frenkie de Jong to take another pay cut - and keeping Jordi Cruyff at the club has bolstered their chances of doing so.
The Catalan club's financial issues are well documented and they are, once again, trying to balance the books. A host of their players took pay cuts during the pandemic to ease the pressure but De Jong is still waiting for millions in deferred wages to be paid.
That has seen Barcelona heavily criticised, but SPORT understands that they want De Jong, who is among the team's highest earners, to align himself with their new wage structure. Cruyff, a fellow Dutchman, is thought to be a key point of contact with De Jong and the club chief has now renewed his contract.
That could be a major coup for Barca as they look to keep De Jong, but lower his wages. The midfielder has been at the club since signing from Ajax in 2019 but has been linked with the exit door this summer as Manchester United circle. Despite the two parties agreeing on a fee the player has shown no desire to leave.
Barcelona's financial issues come despite them spending heavily this summer on the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde - who have all been signed for over £100m - while the likes of Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have joined on free transfers, although there have been issues in registering their new signings.
Failing to pay De Jong his outstanding wages has copped criticism from the Dutch players' union as well as Gary Neville, who said: "De Jong should consider legal action vs Barcelona and all players should be behind him! A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach."
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has rejected such claims, however, insisting the new signings will help the club be successful, which then allows them to pay their players more handsomely. He told CBS Sports: "No answer. I respect his opinion. But in my opinion, he's not right because I insist we are respecting all our players.
"We follow the contracts. If we invest in new players it's to make the club more competitive. It's a circle: You invest in new players, the fans engage and that in turn improves our economy. Gary has been a very good football player for Manchester United. I respect his opinion and that's all I have to say."
