Busquets, Alba take pay cut to allow Barcelona to sign Aguero

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba from Barcelona restructured their salaries to help the club sign Argentine star Sergio Aguero, the Spanish football side confirmed Tuesday.

"The salary reductions for Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, two of the four first team captains, signed this Tuesday have allowed FC Barcelona to achieve two objectives: the registration of Sergio Aguero with the Spanish Football League (LFP) and to extend the Club's limit with regards to financial fair play regulations," Barca said in a statement.

"Sergio and Jordi Alba have agreed to changes in the financial terms of their contracts which included a wage reduction for this season and the deferment of payments for the remaining years," it added.

Spanish defender Gerard Pique also took a pay cut to allow Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to officially sign with the team.