Why is Real Madrid’s salary limit 66.5m euros lower than Barcelona’s?

Advertisement

The salary limits stipulated by LaLiga Santander for each of the league’s clubs have been released and it has been revealed that Barcelona can spend up to 632.97 million euros, while Real Madrid can spend up to 566.53m euros.

This isn’t a concern for either club as they have more than enough room to cover their wage costs, but it is interesting that Los Blancos have a lower ceiling – by 66.5m euros – than their rivals.

There are a number of reasons for this and we delve into them here.

Reason number one

One of the main reasons why Barcelona are allowed to spend more on wages has to do with the fact that they’ve presented greater income than Real Madrid.

The new deal with Nike and their shirt sponsorship agreements have brought in significant money, as have the sales of players like PaulinhoLucas DigneYerry MinaAleix VidalGerard Deulofeu and Andre Gomes.

Clubs are allowed to present income from transfers which equates to the average from the previous three years and, as such, Barcelona can also include the 222m euros they received from Neymar‘s exit in this equation, which ultimately leads to greater salary spending capacity.

Advertisement

Reason number two

The salary limit covers all of a club’s sporting sections.

Therefore, Barcelona‘s limit is higher than Real Madrid‘s in part because the Catalan club have more sections, such as women’s football, futsal, basketball and much more.

These sections’ salaries equate to around 15m euros for Barcelona.

Reason number three

Real Madrid have designated part of the 105m euros from Cristiano Ronaldo‘s sale for future projects like the stadium development.

They’ve set aside 45m euros, so their major payday from Ronaldo‘s sale hasn’t fully translated into an increase in salary spending potential.

Reason number four

Real Madrid‘s accounts should allow the team to have their wage limit raised for 2018/19.

Their budget for next season should be boosted by roughly 43.2m euros and this could impact the limit.

Advertisement