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Barcelona’s wage bill should be worrying the board

By Chiranjib Ghosh

Barcelona's Spanish defender Gerard Pique (R) holds his jersey with Barcelona FC president Josep Maria Bartomeu as they pose during the official announcement of his contract renewal at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 29, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Spanish defender Gerard Pique (R) holds his jersey with Barcelona FC president Josep Maria Bartomeu as they pose during the official announcement of his contract renewal at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on January 29, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona are spending a record €562 million on wages

Futbol Club Barcelona is among the most diverse organisations among Europe’s elite football clubs. The Catalans have both men and women’s football team, a basketball team, a handball team, a hockey team, and even a futsal team.

So, it is natural that the club will have a large wage bill. But undoubtedly, Barça’s oldest and biggest sporting operation is the football section of the club. While the basketball, handball, futsal and hockey teams also have stars, their profile cannot match up to that of the football team.

The market value of Barça’s squad accounts for almost half the worth of the club, which includes valuable assets like the Camp Nou and the Auditori 1899. The three most valuable players are Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Marc-André ter Stegen.

Last to last season, the wage bill decreased by 1% due to the departure of Neymar, who was the second-highest paid player behind Leo Messi. It was €395 million. But the following season, it rose by a mammoth 42% to a record €562 million.

It was mostly because of the contract renewals negotiated by Robert Fernández, the predecessor to Éric Abidal. He gave too much leeway to the players’ agents. Lionel Messi, Marc-André ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto and Sergio Busquets signed new deals in the 2017/18 season.

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This is the highest in the world for any sporting venture. Even clubs funded by Middle Eastern oil magnates, like Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, have less than half of Barça’s wage bill. The situation is not expected to improve anytime soon.

This season, while the club may have offloaded 12 players, including the high-earning Andrés Iniesta, many new high-profile players have also been brought in. For example, Arturo Vidal was brought in as a replacement for Paulinho, and earns far more than the Brazil international.

And while the wage bill will be lower in the 2018/19 report, it is not expected to be lower than €500 million. Furthermore, Barcelona are expected to make at least one marquee signing in the summer transfer window, with no sign of the departure of any superstars.

The club needs to find a way to lower the wage bill. While cutting down on the footballing staff is not an option, the club should find a way to be frugal in contract renewal negotiations, especially considering the fact that Éric Abidal cannot be too reserved in negotiations with new players.

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The tag of the club which spends the highest amount of money on salaries of its sporting staff is not one which identifies with Barcelona, especially with the legacy of the recently deceased former president Josep Lluís Núñez, who let players like Diego Maradona and Ronaldo leave rather than cave in to their extravagant wage demands.