Barcelona’s annual spending limit has been cut by a further €66 million ($71m), reduced from €270m to €204m, LaLiga announced on Tuesday.
Real Madrid maintain the highest cap in the Spanish league at €727m, while Atlético Madrid’s is also higher than Barca’s at €303m.
After being previously cut by €400m in September, the latest limits reveal the scale of the challenge facing Barça as they attempt to become competitive in the transfer market once again.
According to reports by ESPN, squad costs — which is what the cap regulates — are over €400m, which is more than double the LaLiga-imposed limit. As a result, the Catalan club are subject to financial restrictions.
They are only allowed to spend a percentage of what they save in salaries or raise in transfer fees, with the percentage varying depending on how big the savings is.
For the current season — and to encourage spending given the problems faced by many Spanish clubs in the transfer market — clubs over their limit can spend 50% of any savings they make and 60% if the saving made on a departing player accounts for more than 5% of their spending limit.
Barça’s latest reduction is related to a range of factors. In part, it is due to the continued decreasing effect of the “palancas” — assets sold off by the club in 2022 to improve their short-term finances — which increased their limit as high as €656m at the start of the 22-23 campaign.