Don't thing it's gross.
He wants 5M in his pocket, aka net.
He was about to get 6m net for his last 2 years. We could save 1m net, which 2m Gross.
It's not 0, but still don't see it as a good deal for us.
First off, you are basing this numbers on 50% tax, which is a lazy /Barca reddit calculation. taxes in Spain is around 45%.
Club pay wages gross, not net btw.
The rumoured contract is 12M remaining, 5M net is 9M gross so 3M savings.
But the whole 5M net is pure guess, and it seems you are inclined to it because you seem pretty convinced he is just a greedy piece of shit.
But as I covered before, Braithwaite reported annual salary is 6M, players of his caliber earn 2.5M-3M.
Seems like 5M figure is simply to cover the difference in wage.
He can fuck off to Mallorca, getting paid 3M gross or so as a free transfer and be their top player for 2 years, we pay 5M and he can accept being in better place football wise for 1M (550K net) pay cut over 1 year.
For me this sound more reasonable guess
In a few years, he'll be out of competitive football, living his life and this episode would be long forgotten.
Legacy aka nostalgia is huge part of many footballers mind tbf, Sure at some point they know money matters more but they all probably want more cool story to tell their kids/grand children about world cup participation