Pjanic agrees to 60 percent pay cut at Barcelona

Barcelona were able to cut a lot of costs on transfer deadline day, and there has been further good news on that front with it emerging that Miralem Pjanic has agreed to take a 60 percent pay cut upon leaving for Besiktas on loan.

The 31-year-old midfielder departed the Camp Nou after just one season in Spain, signing for the Turkish giants on a one-year loan, but before he did so he agreed to drop his salary with Los Cules.

As such, Pjanic's salary will be reduced for the season he is in Turkey and for the two seasons he is contracted to the Blaugrana after that, say RAC1.

Whether or not he is sold before 2024 is unclear, but Barcelona will breathe a huge sigh of relief in the knowledge that he will no longer be one of their top earners and a fiscal millstone round their neck.

Ronald Koeman has barely used Pjanic, with his transfer from Juventus looking all the more like a purely financial decision, rather than a sporting one, yet the deal to take him to Turkey was rushed through on Thursday evening.

The agreement between Barcelona and Besiktas is for a loan spell without either an option or obligation to buy, with the Istanbul club taking on around 2.7 million euros of Pjanic's adjusted salary. The remaining part will be paid by Barcelona.

Joan Laporta will look at these developments as a two-pronged success, because not only has he got rid of a player that Koeman had no intention of using but he has also decrease Pjanic's salary, which should make him a more sellable asset next summer.