Top 5 highest paid Barcelona players in 2018
For many years now, Barcelona have been competing with Real Madrid for both the La Liga title as well as top talent from around the world. Both clubs boast gigantic wealth, meaning that they're able to afford just about any player. In turn, they can offer the individual a staggering salary which will always be far too great to refuse.
However, the downside of this competition means that if the two are fighting for a player who can't decide on his preferred destination, an "auction" will ensue; not only will the transfer fee rise exponentially, but so will the wage, as the pair fight to out-do each other.
But the huge expenditure often pays off if the team in question wins the title. A huge sum of cash is rewarded and the worry over how much was spent on the player rapidly diminishes.
Without further ado, let's take a look at some of the highest paid players on Barcelona's roster.
#5 Gerard Pique -- £165,000-per-week
Gerard Pique started his career playing for Barcelona's youth team, before being signed at 17-years-old by Manchester United in the summer of 2004, for a fee of £4m. He was sent out on loan to Real Zaragoza for the 2006/07 campaign, but failed to impress. In July 2008, he was sold to Barcelona for just £4.5m.
The decision to sell Pique was perhaps one of Sir Alex Ferguson's biggest mistakes. Pique is now a Barcelona stalwart and a constant first-teamer. He's key to how the team operates and is synonymous with the club nowadays.
Pique has won a plethora of trophies since joining Barcelona, including the Champions League (x4), Spanish League Championship (x7), European Championship (x1), Spanish Cup (x6), Spanish Super Cup (x7), and to top it all off - he even won the World Cup with Spain. There is no doubting the extraordinary ability of this man.
Both his loyalty to the club and great footballing ability warrant his high salary, and there have been many calls in recent years to improve the sum to reflect just how important he is.
All figures via SillySeason