Sportingly Barcelona has found a smile. Large winner of Osasuna this weekend (4-0), Barça is in 3rd place in La Liga. Xavi’s troops have not lost a single game since December 8. But the situation is quite different behind the scenes. His salary cap, namely the club’s disposable income subtracted from structural costs, has tipped sharply into the negative according to the latest update from the Spanish League (LaLiga), a worrying new indicator for the financial health of heavily indebted Barca.
The Catalan club are the only La Liga side with a negative salary cap. The latter, set at 97 million euros after the summer transfer window, is now -144 million euros after the winter transfer window, during which the Catalans recruited Dani Alvés, Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore.
The salary cap, calculated according to various variables, is an indicator used by LaLiga (the body that manages professional football in Spain) to exercise economic control over the 42 professional clubs of the first and second division and apply possible penalties financial. Updated several times each season, this is the available amount clubs can spend on player and manager salaries.
It is calculated according to the difference between income (advertising, sale of players, sponsorship contracts, income from TV rights, subscriptions, ticketing, competition bonuses, etc.) and structural costs (salaries of non-sports employees, exploitation, purchases of players, etc.).
The insolent financial health of Real Madrid
A negative amount therefore implies that FC Barcelona must free up payroll, or make capital gains, to bring its expenses up to its income. As long as said amount is negative, a penalty applies, which limits to 25% the share of each income (sale of players, capital gains, etc.) that can be freely reinvested in transfers.
“To recruit (next summer), Barcelona must reduce their expenses or make a profit,” summarized Javier Gomez, general manager of LaLiga, during a press conference. Barcelona would consider recruiting a great striker next summer, we mention the names of Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah or Robert Lewandowski…
Barca’s salary cap had already fallen sharply last year, dropping from €382m in January 2021 to €97m in September. In comparison, Real Madrid displays an insolent financial health: the merengue club has a positive salary cap of 739 M€, identical to that of January, the people of Madrid having spent nothing during the winter transfer window.
