Barcelona can now spend more on salaries than Real Madrid

Barcelona can pay out more to their playing staff in wages this year than Real Madrid. This is according to data released on Tuesday by LaLiga which shows that the Catalan giants can pay an overall salary cost of 507 million euros compared to their eternal rival Real Madrid who have a total cost ceiling of 499 million euros. This is the first time that the Blaugrana can stretch their wage bill further than Los Blancos since the introduction of centralised television rights.

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Neymar to PSG supports Barça limits

Clearly the transfer of Neymar to the PSG for 222 million, which supposedly involved an initial payment to Barça of 93.7 million, and the wages saved on the Brazilian superstar (around 30 million euros) have been a key element to these calculations which benefit the current league leaders. This is a club, after all, that officially stated a budget of 897 million for this campaign and there was a rather expensive incoming player in the summer.

LaLiga brought in measures to force clubs in their leagues to manage their finances appropriately and set caps on overall salary expenditure. The investment in their players' salaries, amortizations, salaries of the coaching staff and other elements were directly linked to the organisation’s total income.

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Atlético close on Madrid and Barcelona

Last season we saw the figures the other way around with Madrid in a position to spend more than Barça. It had a ceiling of 419 million. In the 2015-16 season it was at 431.3 million. Barça, on the other hand, had a cap of 390 million last season and the year before, 421 million. For their part, Atlético Madrid, who have been the other major force fighting for the Spanish and European titles in recent years, have moved much closer to the recognised big two. Just a couple of seasons ago their wage power was a third of Madrid and Barça (159.6 million euros in 2015) but now can invest around half the amount of their rivals (237 million).

Total salary cost (€m): Primera División

Barcelona: 507.2

Real Madrid: 499.6

Atlético: 237.7

Sevilla: 159.6

Valencia: 113.2

Villarreal: 87.9

Athletic: 68.5

Betis: 65.4

Espanyol: 60.9

Celta: 40.9

Depor: 40.7

Alavés: 37.8

Levante: 32.2

Girona: 31.1

Getafe: 28.9

LaLiga note: the amount assigned to FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC for LaLiga Santander, includes the limit for FC Barcelona B and Sevilla Atlético squads for season 2017-18.

Salary totals (€m): Segunda División

Granada: 17.8

Osasuna: 13.2

Sporting: 11.7

Tenerife: 8.3

Rayo: 8.2

Oviedo: 7.9

Almería: 6.4

Valladolid: 6.1

Cádiz: 6.1

Alcorcón: 5.9

Córdoba: 5,9

Zaragoza: 5.6

Albacete: 5.6

Cultural: 5.5

Lugo: 5.3

Huesca: 5.3

Numancia: 4.5

Reus: 4.5

Nástic: 4.5

Lorca: 3.7