La Liga set Barcelona’s spending limit at -€144 million

La Liga released updated spending caps on Monday following the close of the January transfer window and have confirmed Barcelona’s is now set at -€144 million.

Here’s a look at how the spending caps look for the top two leagues in Spain.

The update means that Barcelona will only be able to spend 25 percent of any savings they can make and will have their work cut out signing players in the summer.

There’s been plenty of talk about a big-money move from Erling Haaland but Barca would have to reduce costs and generate plenty of income to do that.

LaLiga director general Javier Gomez offered a bit more insight into Barca’s situation and the updated salary cap with the Catalans the only team in the top flight with a negative cap.

“To make signings, Barcelona have to reduce the costs they have now or bring in more income. There’s no other way,” he said. “Barcelona’s losses are greater than their capacity to bring in income. That’s why [the spending limit] is negative.”

“Until [Barca] recover the net worth that they’ve lost, the only way they can spend is with the 1:4 rule, where if you save €10m, you can spend €2.5m. The only way for Barcelona to sign is by making savings on [player] contracts, until they generate income.”

Gomez also explained how Barca were able to bring in four players during the winter transfer window despite their current financial problems.

“The signing of Ferran came halfway through the season, so only half of the cost counts towards this season,” he added. “They had Yusuf Demir on loan with an option to buy but he left in January, so that gave them capacity to sign. Sergio Aguero had to retire. Coutinho left, with his high contract. And also [a new contract was agreed] with Umititi. With those savings, they were able to make those signings.”

Source | ESPN

Barcelona can cut costs by offloading players and/or offering new contracts on reduced terms at the end of the season. There’s also been talk of a mega-sponsorship with deal with Spotify, a possible deal with CVC and the possibility of selling off Barca Studios.

Diario Sport are reporting that Barca could bring in €270m if they agree a deal with CVC and could sell 49% of Barca Studios for around €300m.