The league said Barcelona’s spending limit on salaries for
the 2021-22 season has been set at 97 million euros ($113 million), about 285
million euros ($334 million) less than a year ago.
The reduction was part of the reason the Catalan club failed
to give Lionel Messi a new contract and led to him joining Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi reportedly earned nearly 140 million euros ($163
million) per season, although he said he had agreed to cut his salary in half
so he could stay with the club. That still wasn’t enough of a saving for
Barcelona.
Each club has a different salary cap calculated based on a
series of factors that include revenues, costs and debts. It is proportional to
roughly 70% of a club’s revenues.
The adjustments are part of the Spanish league’s
longstanding financial control measures to reduce clubs’ debts and keep them
financially healthy.
Barcelona’s struggles had already forced the league to slash
the club’s cap from a league-high 670 million euros (now $785 million) in
2019-20 to 385 million euros ($450 million) last season. In addition to losing
Messi, Barcelona also sent Antoine Griezmann on loan to Atlético Madrid, and
its only signings this offseason were free agents.
Six other clubs now have bigger spending limits than
Barcelona’s.
Madrid’s cap is the highest, going from 470 million euros
($550 million) to 739 million euros ($863 million), which is 642 million euros
($750 million) more than Barcelona’s. Madrid benefited from better management
and especially from not making big signings in recent transfer windows.
Sevilla followed with a cap of 200 million euros ($233
million), up from 185 million euros ($215 million) a season ago.