Barcelona are in talks with Atletico Madrid to sign Julian Alvarez. The Catalan side are said to be preparing a formal offer of around €100m for the 26-year-old.
This comes just a few days after agreeing an €80m fee to sign Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, but how can the club afford this?
Barcelona and the 1:1 rule
It has been clear for the past two years (at the very least) that Barcelona have been running afoul of La Liga’s financial rules. Every club in Spain is given a salary limit based on its income and finances. The limit controls how much clubs can spend on wages.
The rule is simple: clubs can only spend as much as they make. La Liga assesses a club’s revenue and remaining expenses and they generate a limit. The club cannot go beyond that limit for player registrations.
If the limit is lower than their already committed salaries, then they cannot register any new signings they make. This is known simply as the 1:1 rule.
Barcelona have spent the last few years dealing with these restrictions. Even when they have signed players, they often had to wait for sales, wage cuts or special approvals before they could register their signings.
How is this summer different for Barcelona?
Club officials have been speaking with La Liga for months and believe their financial position has improved enough for them to operate more freely in the market.
The return to Camp Nou last season has played a big part in that. They are now making more money from the sale of VIP seating tickets. The departure of Robert Lewandowski this summer also opened up significant room in their wage bill.
Barcelona’s salary limit was increased earlier this year by around €80m to €433m. The club’s wage bill is still currently higher than this limit, but they believe La Liga will allow them to operate within the 1:1 rule this summer.
It means Barcelona can use all the money they save or earn on transfers and wages directly on new signings. They will still need to sell players this summer, but the mood around the club is very different from previous windows.
La Liga will no doubt closely monitor Barcelona’s accounts before approving registrations, but the club’s confidence in pushing for both Gordon and Alvarez shows they believe they finally have room to act aggressively in the market again.
