Spanish FA has brought in salary caps in both Spanish top tier and second tier leagues starting from 2020/21 season. However every club has their own custom salary cap which is defined by Spanish FA according to the recourses a club can produce. For example Real Madrid and Barcelona generate more money compared to any other team in the league so their salary cap is higher.
We take a look at Spanish La Liga clubs, their official salary cap, average salary and their actual wage bill going into the 2020/21 season.
Salary Cap Introduction In Spanish Football:
In 2013, Spanish FA introduced a system where wage bill of every club in spanish top tier and second tier to be capped. At the start of every season, official salary cap for each team are announced according to how much resources the club produced a season before.
FC Barcelona’s had their salary cap reduced from €641 million to just €383 million due to the club in financial crisis since pandemic in 2020/21 season. However at the start of 2021/22 season Barcelona’s wage cap was slashed again to just €97.94 million euros which was the reason they let go several players in summer 2021 with talisman Messi leaving alongside the likes of Griezmann and Suarez a year before. Barcelona still cant make expensive signings at the moment
Real Madrid are also hit with salary cap reduction and they can spend €468 million in player wages in 2020/21 season. Elche on the other hand have their wage bill capped at just €34 million.
| TEAM | WAGE BILL 2020/21 | WAGE BILL CAP | AVERAGE PLAYER SALARY | HIGHEST PAID PLAYER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Barcelona | €680m | €97.94m | €12.2 | Ter Stegen (€9m) |
| Real Madrid | €435m | €468.5m | €11.5 | Eden Hazard (€16m) |
| Atletico Madrid | €190m | €252.7m | €7.04 | Antoine Griezmann (€15m) |
| Sevilla | €133m | €185.8m | €3.12 | Lucas Ocampos (€6m) |
| Villarreal | €112m | €145.2m | €2.5 | Dani Parejo (€4.6m) |
| Athletic Bilbao | €92m | €119.8m | €2.1 | Iñigo Martínez (€4m) |
| Valencia | €81m | €103.3m | €1.73 | Geoffrey Kondogbia (€5.5 million) |
| Real Sociedad | €68m | €100.8m | €1.61 | David Silva (€3.8m) |
| Real Betis | €45m | €71.8m | €1.5 | Nabil Fakir (€2.8m) |
| RC Celta Vigo | €42m | €62.5m | €1.6 | Denis Suarez (€2.4m) |
| Granada | €36m | €56.6m | €1.3 | Jesús Vallejo (€1.8m) |
| Getafe | €33m | €52.5m | €1.25 | Juan Hernández (€1.14m) |
| Real Valladolid | €29m | €49.3 | €1.2 | Roque Mesa (€2.1m) |
| Osasuna | €28m | €46.5 | €1.18 | Jony (€1.5m) |
| Eibar | €24m | €42.7m | €1.15 | Yoshinori Mutô (€1.8m) |
| Deportivo Alaves | €20m | €42m | €1.1 | Florian Lejeune (€2m) |
| Cadiz | €17m | €41m | €1.2 | Iván Alejo (€1m) |
| Levante | €15m | €37.6m | €1 | José Campaña (€1.5m) |
| Huesca | €15m | €37m | €1 | Sandro (€1.2) |
| Elche | €13m | €34.6m | €850,000 | Guido Carrillo (€1.2) |