Barcelona’s ongoing battle against their financial crisis has seen another twist, with LaLiga informing the Catalan side that their new wage cap will be reduced to €270million (£232m).
The LaLiga champions have been struggling against Javier Tebas’ financial restrictions for some time following a number of huge transfer deals and several years of mismanagement at the Nou Camp.
As a result, a number of the club’s heftier salaries have since been taken off the bill, with the likes of club legends Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba departing for MLS outfit Inter Miami where they have reunited with Lionel Messi.
In addition OusmaneDembele departed for Paris Saint-Germain, with Clement Lenglet joining Aston Villa on loan, AnsuFati spending the season at Brighton and Franck Kessie going to Al-Ahli.
Now, though, Barca are facing a season in which they have had their salary cap cut by almost 50 per cent, having been told in February they could spend approximately £558m.
Worse still, their current squad and staff costs are reportedly around £347m, leaving the club over budget by approximately £115m, which means at the end of the season they will enter a deficit amounting to the same amount.
The most straight-forward solution would be to sell players in the medium-term in January in order to raise £115m and break even.
The likes of Fati and Lenglet would likely fetch decent fees, with Ferran Torres and Frenkie De Jong also frequently linked with moves away from the Nou Camp.
Failure to do so would see an even smaller salary cap impose din the 2024-25 season, which would once again have a knock-on effect on the club’s ability to invest in the transfer market.
Clubs are handed a salary cap for their squads at the start of the season by Tebas and LaLiga, based on their previous revenues and spending.
Barcelona notably did not spend much this summer, paying around £3m for OriolRomeu from Girona, and signing IlkayGundogan and Iningo Martinez on free deals and loaning Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
However, despite player sales totalling around £90m, they failed to receive a payment on time of some £51m after activating one of their economic levers in summer 2022
A comparison to put Barcelona’s fall from grace into context, arch-nemesis Real Madrid had been capped at a similar level as the Blaugrana last term, but have now seen their available spend increased to around £627m this term.-Daily Mail
