Barca warn new signings, the golden era for salaries has ended

It is clear to Barça that they must continue to tighten their belts in terms of salaries. In recent years, Mateu Alemany's work has already been directed in this direction: the former executive insisted that the annual wage bill he had inherited made the club unsustainable. Now, Barça wants to accentuate this dynamic even more.

Faced with a serious wage bill problem, Alemany renegotiated downward the contracts he could. In some cases it was only a deferral. In others, there was a clear downward renewal, while in some extensions the Balearic tried to contain the increase as much as possible. The argument was always the same: the previous salaries were over. Hence, some renewals, such as those of Gavi, Balde or Araujo, took longer than expected.

In the summer of 2022, with the arrivals of Kessié and Christensen, the Azulgrana club placed the new standard salary in the range of six million euros. Both landed as free agents at Ciudad Condal, so Barça prorated the virtual signing bonus on their salary. Both the Ivorian and the Dane initially signed as rotation players. That is to say, 'middle class' in the Barça squad.

The case of Gündogan was different this summer. In his case, the fee was nine million euros net and, in addition, Barça agreed to offer him two seasons plus a third. Ilkay was a luxury signing, which is why Barça sacrificed the salary order, as the midfielder was highly valued on the market.

Now, Barça is clear that it must continue to reduce the standard salary of the squad. In other words, the 'new' Kessié, Christensen and company will no longer reach those amounts. The current situation makes it necessary to bet on free players or players with a very low transfer fee, but without this circumstance turning against them. The club's wish is that an average annual fee should not exceed four or five kilos. How can this be achieved? At Barça they think that by reinforcing with young players coming from teams with not astronomical salaries. Nowadays, the Azulgranas cannot match the salaries offered by the Premier League, for example.

As it is, Barça has already made it clear to the hypothetical signings that the roadmap is to continue tightening the belt in terms of wage bill. In the ideal scenario, then, players like Raphinha or Christensen are already above what is desired. Barca want the majority of the squad to earn around five million and, after that, a select group that can receive a higher amount, without exceeding 10 million net. This would be the four or five most important players, but no more than that.