#INSERT type:image caption:Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says Yoann Gourcuff has agreed to a pay cut. END#
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed 22 million euro flop Yoann Gourcuff has agreed to slash his annual salary by more than 25 percent.
Gourcuff, 28, saw himself jokingly advertised for sale on the Internet for a cut price one million euros by a disgruntled Lyon fan earlier this week having largely failed to deliver on the promise he had when he arrived at the Stade de Gerland with much fanfare in 2010.
Blighted by injury throughout his spell with the seven-time Ligue 1 champions, the former AC Milan and Bordeaux midfielder has played just 73 top-flight matches for OL, and has been sidelined by an ankle problem so far this season.
As a consequence, the French international, who is in the final year of his contract, agreed to a significant reduction in his salary to help ease OL's financial concerns and acknowledge that he has not lived up to expectations.
"Since he's been at Lyon, he's had a certain number of difficulties. To not be unfair to him, you have to say most of his injuries have been traumatic ones. The fact they have come one after the other means that each time we believed he would be ready to play, he had another problem. I have often spoken to Yoann, with his lawyer, to tell him that something had to come from him. We found the solution to say: 'As I still haven't given what OL expected, I take the initiative to reduce my salary.'" Aulas confirmed.
"He has given up a very consequential part of his revenue. It's more than 25 percent."
Initial reports suggested Gourcuff had lowered his monthly wage from 630,000 euros to 350,000 euros, though France Football claimed that while his basic monthly pay -- estimated by them at 450,000 euros -- would remain the same, he had agreed to waive bonuses totalling between 2 and 2.2 million euros.
The player's hefty salary has been the major stumbling block in Aulas' attempts to sell Gourcuff, who has been linked to clubs in Spain and England in recent seasons.
The OL boss has seemingly been hell-bent on recovering some of the massive outlay required to bring in Gourcuff, who had been brilliant in inspiring Bordeaux to the Ligue 1 title under Laurent Blanc in 2008-09.
However, having fallen short in his attempts to sell the former Rennes prodigy and -- thus far -- also having failed to convince him to sign a contract extension, Aulas now appears ready to accept he may have to cut his losses.
"There are two ways of seeing it. If he gets back to his best, and if he's out of contract, he's a very honest boy and I'm convinced he'll continue the adventure with us.
"If we haven't got him back to his best and he hasn't been able to contribute, we will, of course, be happy to get rid of a very onerous source of outgoings."