Barcelona run into salary limit issues again with fresh contract

Barcelona appear to live in a constant boomerang situation between spending on new signings and working out how to register them due to salary limit concerns. It had appeared that they had much more room to breathe after selling a further €100m in assets (the rental of 475 VIP seats for 30 years at Camp Nou), but already appears the extra room in their salary limit has been used up.

The move was undertaken primarily in order to register summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, who were initially registered under an emergency injury rule. Barcelona, perhaps sensibly, decided not to spend any excess on new players in the January transfer window. Instead, the Blaugrana have set about handing fresh contracts to the core of their team, with Gerard Martin, Ronald Araujo, Pedri, Gavi and most recently Pau Cubarsi putting pen to paper.

Reports have claimed recently that Barcelona have agreed one-year extensions with Robert Lewandowski and Inigo Martinez too, despite clauses in their contracts that meant they would automatically receive that extension depending on the number of games played. Marca say that this is indeed the case for Martinez, but Barcelona do not have to sufficient space in their salary limit following their spate of renewals to confirm that of the Basque defender too. They say Barcelona are now searching for solutions and are speaking with La Liga about the matter.

Ronald Araújo is still not training with the group. @mundodeportivo

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 14, 2025

Sporting Director Deco has recently lowered expectations of what business can be expected next summer for Barcelona, and given this news, it seems likely that sales take place too. The Blaugrana not only have to hold onto Lewandowski and Martinez, but also must sign Lamine Yamal to a major new contract. In addition, Deco has five further players to make contract decisions on before July, which would perhaps cast further doubt over the likes of Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong’s futures too.