Gabriel Jesus revealed that he accepted a significant pay cut to join Barcelona this summer, putting his desire to move to the Catalan club ahead of a considerably higher salary at Arsenal.
The Brazilian forward made the admission during his official presentation as a Barcelona player, explaining that the move required a financial sacrifice from his side as well as an effort from the club to make the transfer possible.
“It wasn’t just me; Barça also made a huge effort to make this signing happen.
“I took a significant pay cut, but it’s a dream to be here at Barcelona,” he said.
Providing further details on the matter, SPORT reports that Barcelona had a specific amount of salary space available for the operation and Jesus ultimately agreed to work within those parameters.
Gabriel Jesus accepts lower salary for Barcelona move
Barcelona’s representatives explained to Jesus’ camp how much room was available under their financial rules for the transfer, including the amortisation of the player’s transfer fee.
On top of that, Arsenal also made negotiations relatively easy.
The London club was prepared to facilitate the departure of a player who was no longer in Mikel Arteta’s plans.
The transfer was ultimately negotiated by Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta and Barcelona sporting director Deco, who have maintained a cordial professional relationship for several years.
The final agreement was worth €10 million plus €4m in variables, but the more complicated part of the deal concerned Jesus’ personal terms.
As explained in SPORT, the Brazilian was earning around £265,000 per week at Arsenal, equivalent to approximately €16.1m gross per year.
Understandably, Barcelona never considered matching that salary when putting the agreement together.
Instead, Jesus accepted a contract that fitted within the club’s existing salary structure.
Jesus now earns around €13m gross per year
The Brazilian’s Barcelona contract will run for three seasons, rather than the initially expected two years plus an option for another year. His annual gross salary is understood to be around €13 million.
That means the forward has accepted a reduction of roughly €3 million per season compared with his earnings at Arsenal.
Jesus was nevertheless prepared to take a paycut because of the opportunity to play for Barcelona.
Although he knows that he will not be a regular starter under Hansi Flick, the sporting attraction of the German’s project was simply too hard to refuse.
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