Real Madrid s salary cap spending limits for the 2021-22 season is seven times greater than financially stricken Barcelona s, LaLiga has announced.
Los Blancos have seen their limit boosted by €270million, with Barca s reduced by €280m.
Carlo Ancelotti s side will be capped at just over €739m, but Barca can spend only €97m – with six clubs able to splash more than them.
Reigning champions Atletico Madrid have also been hit, with their limit reduced by €81m from last term, resulting in Diego Simeone s men allowed to spend €171m for the next campaign – the third-highest ceiling in the division.
LaLiga corporate director Jose Guerra suggested to ESPN that Madrid s limit, which is over €500m more than any other LaLiga team, would have left room for them to secure Paris Saint-Germain s Kylian Mbappe, who they attempted to sign last transfer window.
They [Real Madrid] would have no problem whatsoever, LaLiga corporate director Jose Guerra said to ESPN. They were ready for [Kylian] Mbappe or any other player.
LaLiga calculates these figures by considering club s earnings, spendings, overheads, losses and debts to encourage sustainability and financial fair play.
Barca caused conflict with the league in August when they, along with Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, refused to sign a deal to sell 10 per cent of its business to CVC Capital Partners and later saw Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi leave for PSG because of the club s perilous financial situation.
Players such as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba responded by agreeing payment deferrals and salary reductions, but Guerra explained the Catalan club s severe decrease is down to losses of almost €500m last season.
They acknowledge much higher losses than what they had initially estimated, so the impact is greater on their spending limit, Guerra continued.
If you take the €97m limit and add the losses, around €480m, we re talking about €570m, which would be more normal. So it s more or less stable.
While Barca expect their cap to increase in the following season due to writing off several assets in last year s accounts, Guerra also warned that this was not guaranteed as LaLiga consider past losses moving forward.
Sevilla have the second largest kitty, capped at €200m, with Villarreal (€159m), Real Sociedad (€127m) and Athletic Bilbao (€111m) making up the top six.
However, Valencia – who won LaLiga in 2003-04 – have the smallest limit, with their spending reduced to just €31m, which is a €71m fall from the previous year.
