LaLiga have announced their new salary caps for the 2022/23 campaign with Barcelona handed a €560million swing on last season's wage budget.
The Catalan club have been in a dire financial situation of late with executives continuing to balance the books by cutting costs and selling off their assets to keep out of the red. Their strategy has seen them sell 25% of their LaLiga TV income to a third party for the next 25 years, while they were forced to wait to register some of their new summer signings until they had raised cash from offloading other squad members.
However, despite their financial difficulties, LaLiga chiefs appear convinced Barcelona are on the right track again as they have allowed them to operate with a wage budget of €656.5m for the coming season - a huge increase on last season's total of €97m (via Athletic ).
Meanwhile, rivals Real Madrid have seen their budget slashed by more than €55m down to €683.4m from €739m, despite them winning an illustrious treble last term, including their Champions League triumph. At the other end of the scale, half of the clubs in the division have a budget of just €50m or less.
Those competing towards the top of the table and for the European spots have been given modest budgets, with Atletico Madrid the biggest of the rest on €341m, while the likes of Sevilla, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad juggle balances ranging between €125-200m.
Elche and Girona will be operating on the strictest budgets for the season with totals around €42m.
It's hardly surprising that Barcelona and Real Madrid's dominance over LaLiga has been difficult to break in years gone by when you consider the financial disparity between the 20 clubs in the Spanish top flight.
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The new figures will certainly be welcomed by Barca, who have brought in the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie, Jules Kounde and Hector Bellerin this summer, as well as ex-Chelsea duo Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen. They managed to offset some of the costs related of those arrivals by moving on Phillipe Coutinho permanently, along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Miralem Pjanic, Martin Braithwaite and Dani Alves to name a few.
Barca chiefs have also been fierce in re-negotiating deals with current players which have seen them take significant pay cuts to help revive the club's finances. Defender Gerard Pique is among those to have agreed to reduce his wages for a second time, having previously seen more than €30m in wages deferred. Ousmane Dembele was also signed to a new contract on reduced terms.
Meanwhile Frenkie de Jong stood firm in refusing to bow to Barca's demands to accept a lower pay offer amid heightened transfer speculation linking him with Manchester United and Chelsea over the summer, despite receiving backlash from fans. The aforementioned Braithwaite was also jeered by his own supporters prior to his departure after following a similar stance.
While Real Madrid have also spent freely this summer, Atletico Madrid have been busy keeping count of the pennies, making shrewd signings whilst they continue to manipulate a loan deal with Barcelona to their advantage. Atleti have re-signed Antoine Griezmann back on loan for the season but have only been using him as a late substitute to avoid paying Barca a €50m fee due if the forward plays more regularly as part of the agreement.
Meanwhile, lower down the food chain, Sevilla were unable to resist Barcelona's offer of €55m for star defender Kounde, while cash-strapped Villarreal's biggest signing, Johan Mojica, cost in the region of just €5m.
The salary cap was introduced by LaLiga several years ago in a bid to ensure all clubs are managed carefully so as to avoid racking up major debts. The figures are calculated by deducting costs related to squad members (i.e. wages, bonuses, etc.) from total income over a season.
But it seems, after a few years in the financial wilderness, it's business as usual again for Barcelona.
