On Thursday (September 14), Spain’s La Liga informed all 20 top-flight clubs of their salary limit for the next five months. If a club exceed the set limit, they will only allowed to sign players as per their permitted cap.
Real Madrid rejoice while Barcelona continue to struggle
As per La Liga’s squad spending limits, Real Madrid are the most financially sorted team in the division. Los Blancos, who permanently signed Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler, and Fran Garcia in the 2023-24 summer transfer window, have their salary limit set at €727 million ($775.36 million). In second place sit Atletico Madrid with a salary cap of €296 million ($315.69 million).
The third place is occupied by reigning Spanish champions Barcelona. The Blaugrana’s current salary limit has been set at €270 million ($287.96 million). In February, they had a limit of €648 million ($691.10 million), making it the most significant cut on the list. Refer to the post below to get the spending limit for all 20 teams in La Liga:
Here are the @LaLigaEN squad spending limits for this season. Barça €270m. Madrid €727m. pic.twitter.com/eqXwzGRPZK
— The Spanish Football Podcast (@tsf_podcast) September 14, 2023
Barcelona have a lot of work to do on the economic front
Barcelona have long been trying to improve their finances, making strategic signings, offering well thought out packages, and offloading players who do not fit the system like a glove. Earlier this summer, they offloaded Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and more to bring their wage bill down to around €400 million ($426 million). They are indeed heading in the right direction but they have a long way to go before they can even fathom to meet La Liga’s $287.96 million limit.
The Blaugrana cannot continue to sell players without their quality taking a hit. So, giving their existing players leaner contracts is posssibly the way forward. They recently tied goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen down to a new contract until 2028, with the German graciously agreeing to reduce his salary. As a result, Barca could successfully register loanees Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
On Thursday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta thanked Ter Stegen for sacrificing his wages for the well being of the team. He said (via SportStar):
“We have to thank him for restructuring his contract because it has allowed other players to register.”
According to reports Barcelona have expressed their desire to tie key midfielder Frenkie de Jong to a similar contract. It will be interesting to see if the Dutchman follows in Ter Stegen’s footsteps and helps his team in time of great need.
