Barca banned from buying new players
"Last winter, Barca was unable to buy new players," La Liga president Javier Tebas shared on March 2. "We don't allow them. And next summer, they can't buy new players either."
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Barca's financial indicators have not improved despite leading La Liga. Their salary budget remains high, while revenue grows slowly due to elimination in the Champions League group stage and Europa League play-off round. "Barca is very important to La Liga, but in the other direction, letting them buy new players would be a serious mistake," added Tebas. "Our rivalry will collapse. The president of Barca will probably call me to vent, but it's true."
In the summer transfer window of 2022, Barca activated four economic levers. After that, they spent about 160 million USD to buy new players. However, the results obtained were not as expected. The two most positive signs are winning the Spanish Super Cup and leading La Liga, where Barca is seven points ahead of Real after 23 rounds.
Meanwhile, in the Champions League group stage, Xavi's teachers and students only ranked third after Bayern and Inter. They also soon parted the Europa League when they lost 3-4 to Man Utd in the play-off round.
Meanwhile, other Spanish teams are still successful. In the first leg of the 1/8 Champions League round, Real won 5-2 right at Liverpool's field. Sevilla and Villarreal reached the round of 16 of the Europa League and Conference League, respectively.
"I feel proud not only for the big clubs, but also for Villarreal and Sevilla," Tebas said. "This shows that it's not just money that matters. Money gives you a competitive edge, but it's not the only thing that matters. We have less money, but we do better at mining. create and recruit. There are many factors to success".
Sevilla currently holds the record for winning six UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues. And Villarreal won the Europa League 2020-2021 when defeating Man Utd in the final penalty shootout. Real holds the record of winning 14 C1/Champions League Cups.
