Joao Felix: Fresh Problems for Barcelona As Atletico Madrid Loanee Gets 900% Pay Increase

• Joao Felix's salary at Barcelona has been multiplied upward ten times
• The forward had taken a pay cut to force the loan move to Xavi Hernandez's side
• Barcelona are not yet out of the woods with the financial crisis

Barcelona will need to rethink their wage structure and solve to keep Joao Felix after the Portuguese forward received a 900% pay increase.

Felix was forced to take a huge pay cut to join the defending La Liga champions on loan from Atletico Madrid last year.

The striker described the Blaugrana as his 'dream' club and proved his desire to make the move happen by taking a drastic pay cut.

He had also fallen out with Atletico Madrid's Head Coach Diego Simeone and had been forced to train with the academy as the club explored solutions for him.

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He has now been receiving a relatively modest salary of £344,440 yearly for a footballer of his calibre. However, La Liga president Javier Tebas disclosed on his X account that they had multiplied the 24-year-old's wages ten times for financial play purposes.

The fee will be covered by the club where he is on loan.

Barcelona debt issues

Barcelona's financial issues cannot be pinpointed to one specific occasion, but it was a series of disastrous decisions by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu that led them to the brink of bankruptcy.

The loss of Neymar in 2017 and the inability to reinvest the huge transfer fee was the start of the crisis, which went full-blown with a series of Lionel Messi's demands and the Covid-19 pandemic that caught everyone flatfooted in 2020, as the Athletic reports.

Joan Laporta, the current President, will now have to go back to the drawing board and check the feasibility of retaining Felix, who has scored six times and assisted three times in 21 appearances so far.

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Barcelona wants Felix permanently

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Joao Felix’s dream move to Barcelona could become permanent as the Catalan club decided to sign Portugal forward from Atletico Madrid next summer.

The 24-year-old forward, who joined the reigning La Liga champions on loan this summer, has become one of Barcelona’s key players under Xavi Hernandes this season.

Atletico Madrid wants between €70 and €80 million for Felix, which is way more than La Blaugrana’s evaluation of the forward as they plan to make an offer of €30 to €40 million for the former Benfica starlet.