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Analysis
- 21 minutes ago
Yamal sets Barcelona's wage ceiling: What his €8m-a-year contract means for their transfer plans
Analysis
Lamine Yamal has signed a new contract with Barcelona.
After a sensational sophomore season where the Catalan winger established himself as one of the very best players in the world, Lamine Yamal's reputation is now flawless.
The 17 year-old led Barcelona to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and took them all the way to the Champions League final (and had them 2 minutes from the final before a Ronald Araujo error ruined everything).
Current ETV
Lamine Yamal
M, AM (R)
Barcelona
Lamine Yamal
M, AM (R)
Barcelona
ETV Range
€155.9M - €190.5M
For his efforts, Lamine Yamal was rewarded a new contract worth €8 million a year in net wages (€16.7 million in gross wages according to Capology).
Sport report that there are various performance bonuses in the contract, where if he hits targets related to goals, trophies and the Ballon d'Or, his wages will increase.
Lamine Yamal has also been assured that his wages will rise each season (speculated to be by €2 million net) so by the end of the contract when he's 23 years-old, he'll be earning €14 million net.
STATS
Lamine Yamal
M, AM (R)
Barcelona
Lamine Yamal
M, AM (R)
Barcelona
However most interestingly, it's since been reported by Sergi Capdevila that Lamine Yamal's €8 million net contract a year will set the ceiling for the club's new wage structure.
Presently he is the third-highest owner in the squad, with only Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski ahead of him.
Both men have just one year left on their deals, and while the striker is unlikely to get another one, Barcelona are looking to negotiate a renewal with De Jong which will likely lower his salary in exchange for the security of more years.
Lamine Yamal's limit: a problem for transfers?
While Barcelona has much to offer prospective players including the magnificent weather, beautiful city and world-class club facilities... wages are definitely a factor.
Historically Barcelona spent massively on player wages, to the extent that under the negligent Bartomeu presidency, they accounted for around 80% of turnover.
Joan Laporta is looking to prevent such excesses by instituting a solid wage structure. And with a squad full of mostly young players, that makes sense.
Is €8 million net too low, though? It sounds like it's low, right? Relative to other footballing wages, of course.
But is it low?
Players who earn more money than Lamine Yamal
Will it impact Barcelona's ability to recruit in-demand players if they can't match wages with other clubs?
Looking at rivals Real Madrid, for instance, who have Kylian Mbappé earning €15 million net and then three players (David Alaba, Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham) earning more than the Lamine Yamal baseline of €8 million, which Fede Valverde is already at.
Meanwhile in the Premier League we have Liverpool, who just signed Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk to monster deals worth €13.5 million and €11.8 million respectively. However once Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves in a few weeks, no one else in their squad will earn more than €5.5 million net.
Chelsea only have Reece James above the limit (earning €8.4 million a year net). While Man Utd have Casemiro (€11.8 million) and Bruno Fernandes (€10.1 million) above the Lamine Yamal limit.
Arsenal are an interesting case in that they have four players above the limit (Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice) but none are much higher, with Havertz being the highest paid player at €9.5 million net - although Bukayo Saka is surely going to get a fat new contract soon.
In Serie A, Juventus are paying Dusan Vlahovic €10.5 million net and Inter have Lautaro Martinez on €9 million net. PSG, meanwhile, have Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both above the Lamine Yamal limit.
Bayern Munich have Harry Kane on €13.2 million net, Manuel Neuer on €11.1 million net and then Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman all above the Lamine Yamal limit with Alphonso Davies just below on €7.9 million net.
Barcelona's fluid future with Lamine Yamal
All this to say, Barcelona's new salary limit of €8 million net is very likely to prevent them from securing the most elite talent in the transfer market, unless the player is happy to take less money in order to play for the Blaugrana, anyway.
More, if the ceiling is €8 million then it could even be a problem pursuing other players, as Barcelona's acceptable wage structure may put mid-level wages much lower than their rivals as a result of the €8 million ceiling.
If, however, the wage structure is fluid and takes into account Lamine Yamal's annual wage increase, things would be different.
This means that while Lamine will remain the ceiling, Barcelona's ability to recruit, say, a superstar striker in 2026 will see their salary limit for that player be around €10 million a year. Move that to 2027 and it's €12 million a year.
Given that Barcelona are moving back into a renovated Camp Nou soon, and that should see their revenues balloon to where they were pre-Covid, having a fluid wage structure that goes up every year but always with Lamine Yamal as the reference point could actually be a workable situation.
Leaving things fixed with a "hard cap" of €8 million a year net, however, will likely prove a major problem for Barcelona as the cost of signing a superstar player is surely going to go up.
This will impact Barcelona's ability to keep pace with the Premier League and the other rich clubs around Europe will diminish, leaving them relying on superb scouting and La Masia wonderkids to remain competitive at the top of Europe.
And while La Masia is undisputedly the greatest academy on planet Earth, there's only so many times it can produce a club-saving generation of players!
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