How much will Messi and Co. pocket should Barcelona enforce 70% wage cut?

With the coronavirus crisis causing havoc all across Europe, the lack of football is causing problems for even the world's biggest clubs.

At Barcelona, as reported on Thursday by Sportsmail, the board are risking a potential feud with their star players over mooted wage cuts.

The board, led by president Josep Maria Bartomeu, could cut salaries by as much as 70 per cent, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting even the top-end of Spanish football.

There has been no approval from the dressing room as of yet for the plans to be implemented, but the club's board is pressing ahead before any agreement is reached as they are forced to react to the growing financial mess.

The proposed 70 per cent cut would dramatically reduce the salaries of the first-team squad, and the topic was discussed in a video conference on Thursday.

Should the board push cuts through, how much would Barcelona's top stars then be taking home during the coronavirus lockdown?

LIONEL MESSI

Current contract: £500,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £150,000 per week

Barcelona's captain and talisman is far and away the highest earner at the club.

Currently, he earns a basic salary of half-a-million pounds before tax, not including any bonuses or image rights.

As a result, the 32-year-old stands to lose the most should Barca players have their salaries cut.

Should the rumoured percentage of 70 be chalked off, Messi would lose £350,000 every seven days and would be left with £150,000 a week before tax.

With the length of the coronavirus shutdown in Spain unknown, arguably the world's greatest player could be out of pocket for a number of months.

ANTOINE GRIEZMANN

Current contract: £294,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £88,200 per week

Signed from Atletico Madrid last summer for around £108million, the French World Cup winner is Barca's second-highest earner, just ahead of strike partner Luis Suarez.

He currently takes home £294,000 per week, but he would take home less than £100,000 should a 70 per cent wage cut be enforced.

With that per cent decrease, Griezmann would stand to lose £205,800 a week, meaning he would pocket £88,200 before tax.

A considerable loss for the 29-year-old - a player Barca signed with the help of a €35m (£31m) short-term loan last summer as the club struggled to raise the funds required.

LUIS SUAREZ

Current contract: £290,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £87,000 per week

The Uruguayan has been one of Barcelona's most important players for more than five years now, since he joined the club from Liverpool in 2014.

He has won one Champions League and three LaLiga titles in that time, but has been injured this season since January with a problem he picked up in the Spanish Super Cup against Atletico Madrid.

Nevertheless, Suarez takes home a hefty £290,000 per week before tax and any bonuses.

A 70 per cent cut, like Griezmann before him, would take his salary into the 80k range - he would lose £140,000 a week, taking his overall weekly income to £87,000.

SERGIO BUSQUETS

Current contract: £260,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £78,000 per week

Barcelona's anchor in midfield is a one-club man, having come through La Masia academy straight into the first-team under Pep Guardiola.

A club stalwart, the defensive midfielder earns £260,000 per week before tax.

So with a 70 per cent wage cut, Busquets would lose £182,000, making his weekly income a relatively more modest £78k a week.

GERARD PIQUE

Current contract: £220,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £66,000 per week

Much like Messi, Griezmann, Suarez and Busquets, the centre back also earns over the £200k per week mark before tax.

He has been at the Nou Camp since 2008, after re-joining the club from Manchester United.

Pique is also a World Cup winner with Spain as well as a businessman - he is chairman of Kosmos, who formed tennis's new Davis Cup Finals in Madrid last November.

But with just his basic club salary, his £220,000 per week deal would be slashed by £154,000, taking his weekly total to £66k.

FRENKIE DE JONG

Current contract: £170,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £51,000 per week

The Dutch playmaker joined the club from Ajax in 2019, following an impressive season as he helped his former side to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

He has featured regularly in Catalonia this season, but his current deal doesn't quite take him over the £200,000-a-week mark.

However, on £170,000-a-week, the 22-year-old would lose £119,000, taking his weekly total to £51k a week with a 70 per cent wage cut.

IVAN RAKITIC

Current contract: £217,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £65,000 per week

Rakitic was a stalwart in Barcelona's midfield for five years following his move from Sevilla in 2014, winning LaLiga four times and also the Champions League.

Now 32, the Croatian international's importance is waning but he still commands a hefty salary in recognition of his past achievements.

His post pay-cut salary would possibly be less than what he was paid when he left Sevilla.

OUSMANE DEMBELE

Current contract: £175,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £53,000 per week

Barcelona pulled off a remarkable move when they signed the then 20-year-old Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for £97m in August 2017.

But the French winger has done very little to justify either his enormous transfer fee or £175,000-a-week pay packet, with doubts over his fitness and attitude regularly raised.

His new wage of £53,000 per week might reflect more like his true value to the club.

ARTURO VIDAL

Current contract: £130,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £39,000 per week

After a brilliant career with Juventus, Bayern Munich and Chile, Vidal earns a big wage, even if he has not quite hit the heights expected of him at the Nou Camp.

The combative 32-year-old midfielder could be on his way out this summer, with Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte a big admirer.

He could expect to earn far more than his reduced wage of £39,000 per week at the San Siro in normal circumstances, but Italy is being ravaged by COVID-19 even more than Spain and the financial consequences to Serie A clubs are not yet known.

MARC-ANDRE TER STEGEN

Current contract: £125,000 per week

After 70 per cent wage cut: £37,500 per week

The 27-year-old German is now widely considered to be among the best goalkeepers in the world, and has been one of the club's star players this season.

His £125,000-a-week contract does not reflect that status, when compared with some of his team-mates whom he is regularly out-performing.

A 70 per cent pay cut would take his wage below £40k per week.