Barcelona could be about to return to the so-called ‘1:1 rule’ for the first time in three years, and La Liga have hinted that it is indeed the case. For the past three years, it has not been, despite consistent promises from the hierarchy at the club that it would be the case.
The Blaugrana have been briefing in recent months that they are just €11-12m in income short of increasing their salary limit to encapsulate their spend on their squad. That would allow them to spend with less restrictions this summer in the transfer market. Since the pandemic, Barcelona have only been within their salary limit once in 2022, following the inflated limits as a result of the infamous economic levers, or asset sales.
Javier Gomez: “No club knows yet, but 95% have a rough idea”
During a media event on Tuesday, La Liga CEO Javier Gomez responded to questions and gave the following answer when asked about Barcelona’s salary limit situation.
“We can’t make assessments; you can. But there is public data. The auditor has accepted, for example, around €70m from the VIP boxes. Then there’s Lewandowski’s departure, he has a high salary cost. They’re going to open a new stand at Camp Nou. That’s enough to form an opinion,” he told Sport.
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“We have to take into account the impact and amortization of Lewandowski. There’s a club that has a specific squad budget for the 2026/27 season. They have a player who consumes a lot of their resources and who won’t be there anymore. Even though it was planned that he wouldn’t continue, they’ve already done their calculations. No club knows yet if they’re over budget or not, but almost 95% of them already have a rough idea of what their situation will be.”
What does the ‘1:1 rule’ mean for Barcelona?
The 1:1 rule refers to teams that are within their salary limit, and are able to use the totality of the money they make from sales and savings. Teams in excess of their salary limit can only use 60% of the additional income made from wage savings and transfers, while those within their limit can put all of the money from those revenue streams into registering new players. It should be noted this is not the first time that La Liga have been positive about Barcelona’s salary limit situation in recent years without the 1:1 rule coming to pass.
