Barcelona's hefty wage bill for the 2022–23 season was a whopping €655 million, and La Liga had advised the club that they needed to lower it by at least €200 million. In addition to producing new revenue as well, the club needs revenue to operate freely in the market without any Financial Fair Play constraints. If Blaugrana wants to follow the 1:1 norm in the market and register the contract extensions of some of their important players, they must do this.
This seemed like an uphill task, but Barcelona is likely to make this possible after the exit of the club’s three oldest players. Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique left the club in quick succession, which as a result is expected to reduce the wage bill. In November of last year, Pique announced his complete retirement from the sport, freeing up a substantial portion of the team's pay budget. Busquets' confirmation of his departure earlier this month will also save a large chunk of money for next season's payroll. Following Busquets' declaration, Alba's earlier this week, with the left-back even waiving off a substantial portion of the deferred income owed to him. As per reports, the club is expected to save a salary mass of approximately €120 million.
In addition, the Blaugrana earlier this season completed the permanent sale of Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid, clearing up a substantial portion of the pay budget in the process. Mateu Alemany earlier stated that Pique and Griezmann's departures caused the club to reduce its pay budget by almost €90 million. Barcelona has also reduced funding for other divisions, and adjustments are being made to the club's other sports teams, including basketball and handball.
Additionally, Barça is investing roughly €105 million in its academy and women's football. and amateur football, which they want to spend 20 million euros less on. All of this might enable them to reduce their payroll to €450 million and operate in the summer market under the 1:1 norm. Barcelona will face Mallorca in their next fixture at home. They have already secured the league which was their 27th La Liga title.