What is happening at Barcelona?
Financial restrictions have influenced the departures of several key players with more exits expected this summer
The queens of Liga F, champions of the Copa del Reina and Supercopa de España Feminina, and three Champions League trophies: few teams have been as dominant as Barcelona in the last five years.
The team’s stars Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas have also won a combined four Ballon D’or trophies, alongside tons of other individual accolades.
However, this summer, the club has been torn apart by financial chaos, with several players leaving.
Seven first team players have departed the club with Ingrid Engen, Fridolina Rolfo, Ellie Roebuck, Bruna Vilamala and Jana Fernandez headlining the exits in the past few weeks. More players are expected to leave this summer.
At present, Barcelona have 17 contracted players on their squad with the Liga F season due to start on 30 August.
How and why is this happening at one of football’s biggest clubs?
La Liga’s financial restrictions
Firstly, we have to look at La Liga’s unique financial fair play regulations.
La Liga’s rules combine all men’s and women’s team revenue and costs, as well as other club entities, including basketball and handball teams. This means Barcelona’s women’s team are constrained by financial restrictions dictated by debt repayments and club-wide costs, of which surging salaries on the men’s team have continued to cause problems.
The club has consistently spent more than they are allowed to on wages, breaking La Liga’s salary limit calculated for each club according to their income.
La Liga calculates a limit (LCPD) which takes into account a club's expected income and remaining expenses, such as non-sports salaries or management expenses. This limit is compared to already committed salaries (CPD). If the limit is higher, the club can sign and renew players.
Barcelona’s financial issues came to a head in 2021, when president Joan Laporta returned to the club and was faced with a staggering €1.3-billion of debt.
That summer, club legend Lionel Messi left Barcelona, a decision that was forced after they could not afford to register him due to La Liga’s cap rules.
Since then, Barcelona have continued to struggle financially and tried to find creative ways to bring in new revenue, including the sale of €100-million worth of VIP seats at the soon to be renovated Camp Nou stadium.
How is this impacting the women’s team?
Up until this summer, Barcelona’s women’s team had avoided being drawn into club-wide financial issues. However, as the season has drawn nearer in both Liga F and La Liga, the need to find funds and reduce costs has increased.
For the 2025-26 season, the women’s team will have a budget of €13.75 million, while the basketball team will have a salary limit of €28.75 million, around €5 million less than what was available last season. The total budget for all of Barcelona’s professional teams, outside of the men’s senior side, will be €56 million.
On Monday, Xavier O'Callaghan, Barcelona’s director of professional sports, called a press conference to address the ongoing financial issues and called La Liga’s financial restrictions “unfair” on the multi-club outfit.
"We would like each section to have its own financial fair play rules and not depend on La Liga," said O'Callaghan, "but we must accept the rules that exist today.”
He also said that the transfer budget for the women’s team had increased to €1 million, despite an “inflated” women’s football transfer market. Barcelona women have signed just one player this summer, with Laia Aleixandri rejoining the club on a free transfer.
With budget and salaries restricted, O’Callaghan has said that there will be a focus on the “youth academy,” saying, “to keep the most important players, you have to spend more money, so you need to turn to the youth academy.”
Barcelona’s board were forced to provide a guarantee of €7 million so that new signings Marcus Rashford and Joan Garcia could be registered in time for the opening game of the season against Mallorca last weekend.
Impact on the 2025-26 season
Some of the departures this summer haven’t just been financial, they were personal decisions, but many were motivated by the club’s economic limitations. In any case, the situation has resulted in the departures of Engen, Roebuck, Rolfo, Vilamala, and Martina Fernández, as well as the exit of Jana Fernández. The departure of the latter is considered one of the most controversial because Jana Fernández was a symbol of the club as one of the La Masia academy graduates, who also regularly featured for the Spanish national team.
The reality is a broader context, outside of Barcelona’s control: Spanish and English football economics are two different worlds. The salaries of several key Barcelona starters receive a salary equivalent to substitutes playing for Arsenal, Chelsea or Lyon. It is no surprise that several players have opted to leave this summer for financial reasons, as Barcelona cannot afford to pay their superstars more. The financial restrictions and rules in England are also very different to Spain.
Heading into the 2025-26 season there is a serious concern around squad depth. There are only 17 registered squad players for this season, meaning that a few injuries will force coach Pere Romeu to pick more academy graduates. Young talents like Vicky López and Sydney Schertenleib should have no problem integrating into the first team, but it is a different world for Emilia Szymczak, Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Camara, who would need more time and individual attention to play to the required level with the first team.
Barcelona women will still be operating with several world-class talents, including Bonamti and Putellas, but when it comes to challenging in the biggest competitions, such as the Champions League, squad depth could be a limitation for Romeu.
Next summer, the contracts of Putellas, Cata Coll, Claudia Pina and Ona Battle will all expire and fans will be expecting these big names to sign new deals, with the players themselves likely demanding increased salaries.
Unfortunately for Barcelona, there is no quick fix. Their future is dictated by the higher-ups from the club, which enforce the new economic reality. As long as other teams continue to overspend like the men’s first team, the women’s first team will continue to suffer the consequences.
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