Barcelona have seen their salary dramatically reduced by LaLiga authorities.
According to The Daily Mail, Barca have been given just a €98million (£85m) salary cap by LaLiga for the 2021-22 season – a seventh of Real Madrid’s €739m (£638m) allocation.
The Catalan club’s financial Armageddon has been well documented and was behind their inability to keep hold of their greatest ever player this summer in Lionel Messi, who left on a free to join Paris Saint-Germain.
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LaLiga have long held firm on their stance that they would not make special dispensation for Barcelona and that was validated with salary cap figures for all 20 top flight clubs revealed on Wednesday.
Barcelona’s £85m cap for their entire playing squad is a major drop-off from what they were afforded just two years ago.
In the 2018-19 season the Catalan side had a salary cap of €671m (£580m), which was slashed to €382.7m (£331m), a fall of €288.3m (£249m).
But a further squeeze on Barcelona’s finances, exacerbated by the pandemic but due to unsustainable wage to turnover ratios, has seen that figure now fall to the £85m they have this season.
Valencia, meanwhile, have seen their cap reduced to £26m.