Braithwaite 'REFUSES to leave Barcelona unless he is paid his full salary'

Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite is refusing to leave the club unless he is paid the full remainder of his contract with the club.

Braithwaite, a Denmark international, is contracted at Barcelona until 2024 with the club having signed him from Leganes in 2020.

According to Sport, a Spanish publication, the Dane is refusing to bow to the club's wishes and depart the club this summer having seen a reduction in the money he is owed as per the contract he signed two years ago.

The report states that the former Middlesbrough forward was offered what they refer to as a letter of freedom, essentially a break clause that would ensure the Dane could decide his fate.

Braithwaite is believed to have rejected this offer and demanded to be paid his full salary for the remainder of his deal should he be forced out of the club this summer.

It had been reported that Braithwaite, at the end of the last campaign, had told Xavi Hernandez, the manager, that he wished to stay and fight for his place in the team this season.

Barcelona, looking to avenge a number of costly mistakes in their playing squad, told the player in no uncertain terms that he would not get game time this season. He was excluded from their pre-season tour to the United States.

The Sport reports states that there is some displeasure amongst the Barcelona hierarchy for how events are unfolding, with some club figures having felt that the players should accept the proposed wage cuts as a means of ensuring the long term survival of the club.

This summer has been dominated by stories of Barcelona asking players to forgo previously agreed wages.

Gary Neville, the former Manchester United player-turned-Sky Sports pundit, suggested recently that FIFPro, the union for professional footballers around the world, needed to step in to stop the bullying of midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

'De Jong should consider legal action v Barcelona and all players should be behind him!' the pundit wrote on Twitter.

'A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach.

'FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.'

A report in The Athletic suggested that Neville is not alone in his unease at the way Barcelona are attempting to offload current players, forcing many of them to forgo millions in unpaid wages.

The report in the Spanish publication regarding Braithwaite goes onto state that the striker has had a number of offers from other clubs in Spain and one notable offer from a Saudi Arabian club which, it is claimed, would treble his wages.

Barcelona reportedly believe that he should forgo at least part of his salary as a gesture of goodwill owing to them investing over £15m in bringing the player to the club in 2020.