The vast piles of cash Lionel Messi and Barcelona stars are giving up in pay cuts - in pictures

Players agreed to cut their salaries to help the club through the coronavirus crisis

Lionel Messi's contracted salary is £1.17 million a week before any pandemic reductions, according to fcbarcelonalatestnews.com. AFP

French forward Antoine Griezmann gets £758,000 a week. AFP

Barcelona's Luis Suarez, £387,000 a week. AP

Frenkie de Jong, £344,603 a week. Getty

Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets, £247,262 a week. AFP

Midfielder Ivan Rakitic, £220,800 a week. Getty

Spanish defender Gerard Pique, £210,700 a week. AFP

Ousmane Dembele, £198,484 a week. Reuters

Samuel Umtiti, £198,484 a week. Getty

Spanish defender Sergi Roberto, £164,840 a week. AFP

Barca's Arturo Vidal, £148,863 a week. Getty

Lionel Messi has confirmed that Barcelona's players will take a 70 per cent pay cut during the coronavirus lockdown in Spain.

In a message posted on his Instagram account, Messi also took another swipe at the Barca board, led by president Josep Maria Bartomeu, whom he accused of undermining the players during recent negotiations.

Other Spanish clubs are expected to follow suit in applying temporary pay cuts, as football's hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic leaves a number of them fighting for financial survival.

"For our part, the time has come to announce that, as well as the reduction of 70 per cent of our salary during the State of Alarm, we will also make contributions so the club's employees can collect 100 per cent of their salary while this situation lasts," Messi wrote.

He added: "We want to clarify that our desire has always been to apply a drop in salary because we fully understand that this is an exceptional situation and we are the first ones who have ALWAYS helped the club when asked.

"Many times we have even done it on our own initiative when we thought it necessary or important.

"Therefore, it never ceases to amaze us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under the magnifying glass and tried to add pressure to do something that we always knew we would do."

Messi's message was soon posted on the pages of nearly all of his Barcelona teammates, including Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong, and Arturo Vidal.

But what does a 70 per cent pay cut actually mean to the Barca stars?

Naturally, players from one of the world's biggest clubs are well rewarded for their talents.  Above is a gallery of the top 11 earners from the Barcelona squad, compiled using statistics from fcbarcelonalatestnews.com.

These figures do not necessarily reflect any improved contracts signed by players since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.

To move on to the next image, click on the arrows, or if you're using a mobile device, simply swipe.