FC Barcelona's salary cap, the club's disposable income subtracted from structural costs, has tipped into the negative according to its latest update from the Spanish League (LaLiga), a worrying new indicator for the financial health of heavily indebted Barca.

144 million negative payroll

The Catalan club are the only La Liga side with a negative salary cap: their salary cap was set at €97m after the summer transfer window, it is now -€144m after the winter transfer window, during which the Catalans signed Dani Alvés, Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traoré.

The salary cap, calculated according to various variables, is an indicator used by LaLiga (the body that manages professional football in Spain) to exercise economic control over the 42 professional clubs of the first and second division and apply possible penalties financial.

Updated several times each season, this is the available amount clubs can spend on player and manager salaries.

It is calculated according to the difference between income (advertising, sale of players, sponsorship contracts, income from TV rights, subscriptions, ticketing, competition bonuses, etc.) and structural costs (salaries of non-sports employees, exploitation, purchases of players, etc.).

A penalty on the transfer market 

A negative amount therefore implies that FC Barcelona must free up payroll, or make capital gains, to bring its expenses up to its income.

As long as said amount is negative, a penalty applies, which limits to 25% the share of each income (sale of player, capital gain, etc.) that can be freely reinvested in transfers.

"To recruit (next summer), Barcelona must reduce their expenses or make a profit," summarized Javier Gomez, general manager of LaLiga, during a press conference.

Barca's salary cap had already fallen sharply last year, dropping from 382 million in January 2021 to 97 million in September.

In comparison, Real Madrid displays an insolent financial health: the merengue club has a positive salary cap of 739 million, identical to that of January, the people of Madrid having spent nothing during the winter transfer window.

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