RUMOURS: Messi & Neymar pay rises could put Barcelona in financial trouble

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Messi & Neymar pay rises could put Barcelona in financial trouble - Barcelona will need to significantly increase their income to deal with the effect of the imminent pay rises for Lionel Messi and Neymar, according to AS.

Argentine newspaper ARA claimed last week that Messi is in line to see his wages nearly double from €22.8 million (£17.4m) to €39.4m (£30m) on June 30 in accordance with the terms of his contract.

Neymar, meanwhile, has a similar near-100% summer rise built into his current deal. That agreement expires in 2018 and he is currently negotiating a new contract with Barca.

Those salaries, as well as the significant money earned by the likes of Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, will complicate Barcelona's ability to meet two financial standards.

They are Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules and the regulations on expenditure laid out in the club's statutes, which requires the board to resign if a pre-agreed debt-to-income ratio is not met for two consecutive terms.

Last year, that ratio was set at 2.5 but Barcelona hit 3.2 and this year it must come down to 2.25 or the Josep Maria Bartomeu-led hierarchy will be forced to resign.

Barcelona are also in danger of exceeding La Liga's salary cap, which stands at €421m (£320m). The Blaugrana are currently spending €419m (£319m) on wages, which represents 73% of their annual budget.