Inside La Liga’s 1:1 Rule: What it Really Means for Barcelona’s Finances and Their Long Road to Stability
How does Barcelona get affected by La Liga’s 1:1 rule, and how far along is the team in its quest for financial stability? WANDERLUSTSPORT has all the answers here.
When Joan Laporta returned as president of Barcelona in March 2021, he referred to it as a “dreadful inheritance” and blamed Josep Maria Bartomeu, his predecessor, for the club’s €1.2 billion (£1 billion or $1.4 billion) debt.
Bartomeu oversaw extravagant spending, as Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele all joined for more than €100 million (£87 million or $117 million) apiece.
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Laporta was taken aback by the existing contract policy, and all three of those well-known players fell short of expectations at Camp Nou. He discovered younger stars on short-term contracts and seasoned players on long-term ones.
Despite their best efforts, Barca’s management was unable to extend Lionel Messi’s contract because of serious financial difficulties, which led to his heartbreaking departure to Paris Saint-Germain.
Since then, Barca has signed new players and registered them with La Liga by using a variety of financial “levers.”
Wages have been reduced, club assets have been sold, and directors have started bank guarantees. Barca has typically been successful in achieving their goals, even with La Liga’s tough stance.
La Liga’s 1:1 rule aims to prevent clubs from going over budget and incurring significant debt.
The club’s official website states that LaLiga determines a cap by factoring in the anticipated revenue of the organisation as well as any outstanding costs, including management or non-sports salaries.
This cap is contrasted with salary that have already been committed. The team may sign and renew players if the cap is raised. No new additions can be recorded otherwise.
According to the regulations, Barca is only permitted to reinvest one euro for each euro earned via sponsorship, player sales, and business agreements.
For instance, Barca’s deal with Spotify is expected to generate €266 million (£232 million or $310 million) over four years.
For this reason, the stadium is now known as the Spotify Camp Nou, and international musicians like Travis Scott, Ed Sheeran, Drake, and the Rolling Stones have appeared as major shirt sponsors for Barcelona.
Although Barca is exempt from the 1:1 rule, La Liga has even more stringent regulations. Even with loans, Barca is unable to use all of the money or wage space from outbound moves.
Rather, Barca may only recruit a new player with up to 60% of the wage and amortisation savings. For so-called “franchise players,” or those whose pay is at least 5% of the entire squad wage bill, it is 70%.
Only 20% of player sales earnings can be used by the club to recruit new players; for a franchise player, that percentage rises to 35%.
According to Barca’s website, in seasons where 1:1 cannot be satisfied, La Liga does permit an alternate scenario for player registration.
This used to be 1:4 or 1:3, but it changes every year. Therefore, Barca may spend one euro for every three saved.
Barca report that they face three major obstacles with relation to the 1:1 rule: consistently making more money than they spend, keeping their net worth positive (having more assets than loans), and avoiding having too much debt relative to their income.
What is the present state of affairs at Barca?
According to reports on Thursday, Barca is still €36 million (£31 million or $42 million) away from meeting the 1:1 requirement.
In addition to other financial measures, they expect that an additional €30 million (£26 million or $35 million) from the sale of VIP seats at Camp Nou will bring them closer to reaching their goal.
However, success is by no means assured, and Barca will have difficulty acquiring any new players in January if they continue to break the regulations.
Following his €60 million (then £51 million) acquisition from RB Leipzig, Dani Olmo’s registration was delayed at the beginning of the previous season due to financial difficulties.
Before Barca was able to register Olmo with La Liga, he missed the first two games of the season.
Nico Williams was worried that he may miss a significant portion of the season if Barca was unable to register him, so the drama prevented him from joining the team in the summer.
Considering that it is a World Cup year, this would have been very harmful. Barca had to replace Williams as their left winger with Marcus Rashford after Williams decided to sign an incredible new 10-year contract with Athletic Club.
On a season-long loan from Manchester United, Rashford has a €30 million buyout option with Barcelona.
Barca is debating whether to let Robert Lewandowski to depart on a free transfer and acquire a new striker, or to extend his deal past 2026. If they choose the latter, Rashford’s prospects of signing on a permanent basis may suffer.
Lewandowski reportedly earns €400,000 per week (£348k/$466k), so Barca would save a significant amount of money if he left.
Several Spanish media claim that Laporta wants to replace the Polish legend with a top-tier goal scorer, like Manchester City’s Erling Haaland or Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez.
However, the exorbitant transfer fees for such players might compel Barca to consider more affordable options.
A fantastic acquisition may be Dusan Vlahovic. Even though the 25-year-old has high salary demands, he could soon be signed for free because his Juventus contract expires in June.
According to the Italian press, Barca is reportedly thinking about starting negotiations for Vlahovic, who was previously offered to Manchester United.
We are aware that the Serie A standout is also attracting interest from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Karl Etta Eyong might be an additional choice.
Despite lacking Vlahovic’s level of experience, the Levante star has been dominating Spain this season, scoring five goals in eight games.
For €15–30 million, Etta Eyong might be signed. Recently, it was revealed that the 22-year-old would prefer to play for Barcelona over Manchester United.
According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg, Barca has also shortlisted Fisnik Asllani of Hoffenheim.
