Barcelona’s financial instability in recent years has garnered almost as many headlines as their on-field achievements.
A generation of fiscal irresponsibility took the Catalan giants to the very brink of bankruptcy in 2021, with debts exceeding €1.3 billion and over half that payable within 12 months.
As a worldwide pandemic decimated their revenue and the losses mounted, Barcelona increasingly found it difficult to register new players. For a good while back there, they stared into the abyss.
The latest financial reports, therefore, intimating a small operating profit, have been welcomed by the club’s global fan-base. They’re not out of the woods yet, but are unquestionably on the right path.
A pertinent example regarding this concerns player salaries, with Barca no longer shelling out ludicrous sums in the transfer market, and then having to mirror that in wages.
The 2018 purchase of Philippe Coutinho for €160m epitomises this, with the playmaker’s sky-high wages becoming a big problem as other squad members began to demand parity.
It is notable how rigid Barca’s pay structure now is, with three of the top five earners on identical salaries.
Biggest Earners at Barcelona (2025/260:
- Robert Lewandoski - £351,944 per week
- Frenkie De Jong - £321,025 per week
- Raphinha - £281,657 per week
- Marc-Andre ter Stegen - £281,657 per week
- Lamine Yamal - £281,657 per week
That’s not to say however that Barca have become especially prudent. Their overall wage-bill amounts to £195m per year, which is more than Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Valencia and Celta Vigo combined. It is the second highest payroll in La Liga.
The average annual income of their players meanwhile is a hefty £7.8m.
Robert Lewandowski
Now a seasoned 37, the prolific Pole is no longer an automatic starter for Blaugrana yet he still brings in the big bucks, by virtue of the bumper deal signed when joining the club in 2022.
Back then he was without question the most feared marksman in world football, after smashing goalscoring records galore in the Bundesliga for Bayern. In 2020/21 and 2021/22 he fired an astonishing 76 league goals combined, a tally that secured him back-to-back European Golden Shoes.
Naturally, luring across such remarkable firepower necessitated a colossal wage, one that places ‘Lewy’ as the fifth highest earner in La Liga.
The deal ends next summer but a one-year extension is not beyond the realms, especially as the striker’s decent return this season suggests he is not yet done terrorising goalkeepers.
Frenkie De Jong
When Barcelona’s Dutch metronome plays well the team typically follows suit and his importance to the reigning La Liga champions is duly reflected in his steep wages.
It can be reasoned too that the midfielder’s loyalty was suitably rewarded in October 2025, when he finally put an end to transfer gossip and committed to the club for four more seasons.
As far back as 2022, Manchester United launched a determined campaign to sign the former Ajax star, even sending him a video containing Reds legends urging him to move to the Premier League.
So intent was De Jong to remain in Spain, he apparently didn’t even watch it.
Barca can be immensely thankful for this because for all the many reasons why they dominate the sports betting each and every season, the 28-year-old is chief among them.
Raphinha
It has not entirely been plain sailing for the Brazilian winger since joining Blaugrana in the summer of 2022.
His problems began right at the outset, with Barca unable to register him as a new signing until they sold on existing personnel. He then struggled to adapt to his new surroundings, a situation not helped by Ousmane Dembele routinely claiming the right flank.
Even when Dembele was out of the picture, Raphinha had to contend with an emerging teen by the name of Lamine Yamal, widely tipped to take on, and conquer, the world.
Arguably the turning point arrived prior to the 2024/25 campaign when the Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal offered him a lucrative way out.
To the surprise of many, incoming boss Hansi Flick instead repositioned the former Leeds star just off Lewandowski and from that moment on the performances came, as well as the goals and acclaim.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
For nigh-on a decade, the German repelled almost all that came his way, establishing himself as a permanent fixture between Barca’s sticks as they won multiple La Liga titles.
In 2015, a series of exceptional displays helped his club secure a fifth Champions League honour. Eight years later he kept an astonishing 26 clean sheets in the league alone as Xavi’s fine collective topped the Spanish top-flight with ten points to spare.
Undoubtedly then, Ter Stegen has gained legendary status in Catalonia, which makes his summer dispute with his employers all the more notable.
Following back surgery the player refused to confirm Barcelona’s assertion that he would be out long-term. Had he done so, the club would have been free to register a new signing.
Newcastle are rumoured to be among his many suitors, as a long-standing and successful relationship threatens to turn sour.
Lamine Yamal
From the moment Yamal exploded onto the scene – making his league debut aged just 15 years, 9 months and 15 days – it was clear he was destined to become the club’s next megastar.
From just a handful of appearances in his odds in the football betting shrunk on one day winning the Ballon d’Or.
The kid is special. Rare. His touch, pace, vision, trickery and execution is such that he has reinvigorated Barcelona in their post-Messi era.
How then do you reward such brilliance, without smashing the wage structure and repeating extremely costly mistakes of the past?
Via bonuses of course. When Barca win silverware, and the flying winger meets his targets, he is in receipt of an additional £9.1m a year. Blaugrana tend to win, and Yamal meets his targets more times than he doesn’t.
