"Made a very important effort to join" - Barcelona vice-president reveals Joao Felix's insane four-figure weekly wages during loan spell
Barcelona vice-president Eduard Romeu has revealed that on-loan Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix agreed a massive pay-cut to play for the Blaugrana this summer.
Felix, 23, fell out of favour with Atleti boss Diego Simeone and spent the second half of last season on loan at Chelsea. The Blues paid a €10 million loan fee for his services and also covered the entirety of his €289,000 weekly wages.
Following the expiry of his loan spell, Felix returned to his parent club and departed on another loan, this time to Barca. However, the La Liga giants - owing to their well-documented financial woes - would have been unable to afford the player's wages in their entirety.
Romeu, though, has told L'Sportiu (via 90Min) that the Portugal international agreed a staggering 99.97% pay-cut to make the move work. The player currently earns only around €7,700 per week, which is around €400,000 per year.
"It’s true, Joao Felix has reduced his salary to €400,000 to join," Romeu said.
Romeu commended the massive effort from the player to join Barca:
"It is the case of a person who has made a very important effort to join. It's very nice to see this from a guy who was probably not at his best at his club, but here he has been magnificent.
"Make no mistake about it, however, the club that gave Felix to us has an interest in this being a great showcase. Hopefully, at the end of the year, we will have the conflict of having to consider his continuity."
The La Liga giants have total debts of €1.2 billion, including bank and club debt of €552 million. Romeu added:
"There are two types of debt, those measured by La Liga and the global one. La Liga measures bank and club debts, which were €680m in June 2021, €608m in 2022 and €552m in 2023. That's why (La Liga president Javier) Tebas said we reduced the debt."
How has Joao Felix fared for Barcelona?
Joao Felix has made a good start to life at Barcelona. The on-loan Atletico Madrid attacker has three goals and as many assists in eight games across competitions this season for Xavi's side.
Felix has started seven of those games. He has scored once and assisted twice in six games in La Liga, where Barcelona have won six of their nine games and are three points behind leaders Real Madrid (24 points).
In the UEFA Champions League, the Atletico attacker has scored twice in as many games and has also provided an assist, with Barcelona winning both games. All three goal contributions came in the 5-0 home win over Royal Antwerp on matchday 1.