Barcelona to reportedly ask Mirotic to take 50% cut or leave / News - Basketnews.com

FC Barcelona are going through some major financial hardships that have rendered the future of many players, among those Nikola Mirotic's, highly uncertain.

Credit: Rokas Snarskis Credit Rokas Snarskis

After the debacle in Kaunas in a Final Four where FC Barcelona found themselves beaten again by both Real Madrid and AS Monaco, and with the ACB title still at stake, the club is already planning the next season.

Nikola Mirotic

Team:FC BarcelonaPosition:PFAge:32Height:208 cmWeight:102 kgBirth place:Podgorica, MontenegroProfileNewsStatistics

According to Jose Ignacio Huguet of Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan powerhouse has made the decision to implement a substantial budget cut for the upcoming season,

Initially, it was discussed that the budget would be cut by around 10-15%. However, unless the club changes its course, the final reduction will likely fall between 20 and 25%. Considering the previous budget for the basketball section was approximately €44 million, sports director Juan Carlos Navarro will have to execute a reduction of about €8-11 million.

The first player on the list to be asked to take pay cuts will be Nikola Mirotic, the player who earns the most on the entire squad.

According to Sport, Barca has already contacted the player and informed him that he would either take a 50% cut, or they will open the doors for him to leave the club at the end of this season, once the ACB playoffs finish. Mirotic came to Barcelona in 2019 with the hope that the Catalans would win the EuroLeague, but he hasn't been able to deliver as the team's leading figure following the Juan Carlos Navarro era that ended in 2018.

The Spanish-Montenegrin forward still has two years left on his contract with FC Barcelona and he is willing to fulfill it. However, the club has a different view. Mirotic is earning about 11 million euros gross (5 million net) per season and the management isn't willing to keep paying that sum, taking into account the delicate financial situation that the entity is going through.

"I have a contract with Barcelona and I would like to finish it. But there are players, in basketball and other sports, who sometimes have not been able to fulfill their contract until the end of it," Mirotic told the media in the Zalgirio arena on the eve of the 3rd-place game featuring Barca and AS Monaco.

"We'll see what happens with my future, although - as I've said before - I have two more years [until 2025] on my contract. Obviously, I would like to fulfill it, but nothing has been really decided yet," he went on to say.

The two sides will have to sit and discuss their future in some detail once the season is over.

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