Despite a huge mountain of debt amounting to 1.35 billion euros, FC Barcelona made a lot of money on the transfer market again this summer.
In total, the top Catalan club paid around 160 million euros in transfer fees for stars like Robert Lewandowski (45 million, came from Bayern), Raphinha (58 million, came from Leeds United) and Co. That alone begs the question: how could Barça raise so much money to fix the transfers?
Now the reason is revealed: The Spanish La Liga announced on Friday that the Catalans’ spending limit for the current season has been significantly increased. Reason: Barça was able to sell numerous assets worth around 870 million euros.
The series champion is now allowed to spend 656 million euros on players and staff including salaries. A huge jump compared to last winter, when the spending limit was still negative (-144 million euros).
In La Liga there is a salary cap that is intended to create equal opportunities between the top clubs such as FC Barcelona or Real Madrid and the other Spanish first division clubs. Each Spanish club has a different spending limit based on their income-to-expenditure ratio and liabilities.
Barça had repeatedly criticized the salary cap, if not ignored it. Much to the incomprehension of La Liga President Javier Tebas (60). He criticizes the heavily indebted club from the Mediterranean coast in the magazine “Influencers” because they repeatedly claim that the regulations on the spending limit are not clear.
Tebas: “The only club that says there are no clear rules is Barcelona Football Club, but they have long known what economic control is like.”
Chaot falls 5 meters down
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Tebas goes on to say that Barcelona themselves are to blame for not being able to register players: “The fact that they can’t do it is probably down to the club itself. Of course it’s better to blame Tebas, but I don’t control the economy of the clubs, but fourteen or fifteen people do that,” said the league president.
Background: Several newcomers to FC Barcelona could not be registered with the league after their transfer because Barça broke the salary limit. As a result, stars like Jules Koundé (23) could not compete for weeks. Barça President Joan Laporta (60) repeatedly pointed the finger at Tebas and emphasized that he had not defined any clear rules for the upper salary limit.
There were also registration problems with the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie. However, these could be quickly resolved by selling merchandise rights and players.
