Barcelona €14m away from ‘1:1 rule’ for first time in four years

Barcelona are reportedly closing in on the so-called ‘1:1 rule’ for the first time since President Joan Laporta activated the famous economic levers, or asset sales back in 2022. On several occasions Laporta has declared that they are close to doing so, but it seems there is again growing confidence that it could finally be the case this summer.

La Liga rules, as voted on and agreed by the clubs in the top two divisions, dictate that clubs may only spend a percentage of their income on salaries and transfers of the playing and coaching staff per season. If the wage bill is above the salary limit calculated by La Liga, then a club can only spend 60% of the money they make from sales and savings in any given summer, in a bid to move the club back towards those perimeters. The Blaugrana have been under those restrictions for the past 3.5 years after suffering losses in the last three seasons.

🚨 FC Barcelona’s ‘bets’ for the summer transfer window. [@RogerTorello]

– Julián Álvarez
– Josko Gvardiol, Alessandro Bastoni or Nico Schlotterbeck
– Marcus Rashford. pic.twitter.com/ZN9ABirUwk

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 20, 2026

Barcelona close to ‘1:1 spending rule’

However Sport report that Barcelona are now just €14m away from being within the ‘1:1 spending rule’ – shortform for the ability to spend what they make from sales and savings. They must still remain within that limit to avoid restrictions. The Catalan daily say that the bank guarantee provided by the board to register signings has been reduced from €18m to €9m, and key factors have been the contract renewal of Frenkie de Jong, and new sponsors. They also comment that the exit of Marc-Andre ter Stegen would cover the difference in the summer, although that looks a tricky deal financially.

Barcelona’s summer desires

With Robert Lewandowski looking set to depart in the summer at the end of his contract, Barcelona are set to seek a number nine, a central defender, and make Marcus Rashford’s loan deal permanent. Those three moves would likely require significant sales too, and Barcelona fans will no doubt take the news with a pinch of salt, given Laporta promised this would be the case last summer.