Barcelona are not the only La Liga giants in deep financial trouble, with Atletico Madrid suffering the same fate. According to revelations by overseas media, Atletico have issued salary cuts to five of their core players, including goalscorer Kevin Keshavan. However, the 31-year-old France international has steadfastly refused to reduce his salary and the club may consider snowballing him to avoid triggering a buyout clause so that he can be returned to Barcelona next summer.
Reports indicate that Atletico Madrid have asked goalkeeper Obili, two midfielders, Gorky and Thomas Linma, and two strikers, Zulfiarius and Kishavin, to take pay cuts in order to help the team tide over the difficult times. Among them, Thomas Linma has accepted a 40% pay cut, while Obili has not only agreed to a significant reduction in salary, but also agreed to delay the payment of wages.
Of the five players, Kishavin is in the trickiest situation. Last summer, he went on loan to Atletico Madrid from Barcelona and saw his annual salary drop from €16 million to €12 million after tax. Now, Atletico are once again asking him to drop to €8.4 million a year.
But Kishavin refused to compromise and emphasized that the club had already completed his registration and would have to honor the previously signed contract.
Under the terms of Atletico's loan of Kishavin, if he plays more than 50 percent of the games during his two-season loan period, including more than 30 minutes per game this season, Atletico will have to buy him out for 40 million euros next summer.
In order to avoid Keshavin becoming a long-term liability for the team, Atletico could drastically reduce his playing time and wait until the end of the season to get rid of this major problem.
