Barcelona Wages Revealed: Every Player’s Salary in the 2025/26 Season

The figures tell their own story. After years of turbulence, asset sales, and uneasy financial gymnastics, FC Barcelona’s wage bill for the 2025/26 season sits at €209.2 million, an amount that represents both a return to control and a continued struggle to balance competitiveness with sustainability. The average salary across the first-team squad stands at roughly €9.1 million per season, a figure that still places the club among Europe’s biggest spenders, but one that now reflects structure and restraint rather than crisis.

It has taken nearly half a decade for Barcelona to steady itself. The period following Lionel Messi’s departure in 2021 forced the club to confront reality: a wage bill that had ballooned beyond €600 million, filled with deferred payments and contracts structured on optimism rather than caution. President Joan Laporta’s second tenure has been a slow, sometimes painful, correction.

Barcelona has rebuilt, piece by piece, with a squad that combines senior professionals with emerging talents from La Masia and carefully selected signings. The current list of salaries offers a window into how far they’ve come — and how fragile the balance still is.

A Wage Bill Under Control — At Last

Barcelona’s €209 million wage bill represents a clear shift from the unsustainable model that crippled the club just a few years ago. In 2020, the ratio of wages to revenue had climbed above 90 per cent. Today, with LaLiga’s financial controls enforced more stringently, that figure has been brought closer to 60 per cent. The club’s leadership has made deliberate efforts to flatten the hierarchy, negotiate performance-based clauses, and cut dependence on deferred wages, though Lewandowski’s deal remains a reminder of how deeply those commitments were embedded.

For all the austerity measures, Barcelona has managed to retain a core of world-class players. That is the success of Laporta’s recalibration: to maintain competitiveness while rebuilding trust with LaLiga and their own books.

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Veterans and Heavy Contracts

At the top of the wage structure sits Robert Lewandowski, earning €31 million per year. Much of that figure is inflated by deferred payments, part of the creative accounting that began with his arrival in 2022, when Barcelona were still navigating strict financial fair play restrictions.

Lewandowski, now 37, remains one of the highest earners in world soccer. His contribution on the pitch still justifies a portion of that figure, but the contract also reflects the final echo of a more desperate financial period.

Behind him are Frenkie de Jong (€17m) and Lamine Yamal (€16.6m). De Jong’s case is an anomaly turned success story. Once considered a saleable asset to relieve pressure, his consistent performances and willingness to restructure his deal made him one of Laporta’s strategic pillars.

His new contract, stretching to 2029, brings stability and a leadership role in a midfield designed for the next era.

Yamal, meanwhile, represents something different. At only 18, earning €16.6 million per year, his rise marks a new approach to retaining elite young talent. Rather than risk losing players to the financial power of the Premier League or PSG, Barcelona now moves early, offering long-term deals with competitive salaries. It’s a gamble that assumes future performance, but the club views it as an essential investment in identity.

Below them, players like Jules Koundé, Raphinha, and Marcus Rashford occupy the €14–15 million range. This group sits at the intersection of experience and market value, all in their mid-to-late twenties, all expected to deliver at a consistent level.

These contracts are substantial but structured. Unlike older deals, they include incentive layers and performance-related clauses tied to European progression and domestic achievements.

Youth on Big Contracts

Barcelona’s model has pivoted towards early renewal and internal growth. The club now builds around a spine of young talents, many already earning mid-tier senior salaries. Pedri, Gavi, and Araújo each sit at around €12.5 million per season, figures that might have seemed extraordinary for players under 23 just a few years ago, but now reflect the club’s commitment to continuity.

Pedri’s extension until 2030, secured with a €1 billion release clause, mirrors Laporta’s broader philosophy: invest heavily in those raised within the system, pay them well enough to remove outside temptation, and maintain a core identity.

The risk, of course, lies in balance. Paying young players at senior levels early can create distortions within the squad, especially when performance fluctuates or injuries interrupt development. Barcelona’s technical staff have worked closely with financial planners to introduce clearer internal grading: appearance bonuses, leadership clauses, and a wider spread of variable pay.

Still, the shift is striking. The club’s reliance on external stars has waned, replaced by a foundation built on homegrown excellence. In the 2025/26 wage table, seven of the top 15 earners have come through La Masia or were signed before turning 21. That statistic alone defines this era.

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Balance and Value

The middle of Barcelona’s wage structure, players earning between €6 million and €10 million per year, is where the rebuild finds its maturity.

Marc-André ter Stegen, at €10.5 million annually, remains among the club’s most valuable assets. His contract, extended to 2028, includes performance-based reductions should he miss significant time through injury. It’s a practical structure that fits the new era. Andreas Christensen, on €9 million, offers a similar balance, a reliable professional, not on superstar wages, but compensated fairly for consistency.

This middle band also features Joan García and Eric García, both earning €6 million. Their inclusion gives another important shift: positional value. Backup and rotational players are now paid within a controlled range, rather than inflated to retain depth. It’s a notable improvement from the late Bartomeu years, when even secondary players earned beyond market norms.

Emerging Generation and Scalable Contracts

Below the senior core sits the next wave. Pau Cubarsí and Fermín López, both on €4 million per year, are the embodiment of Laporta’s “scalable wage” philosophy. Their contracts are built with progression in mind — modest base salaries that can rise with appearances, international recognition, and trophies.

Alejandro Balde, now established at left-back, earns €1.8 million, a figure that will likely rise with his next renewal. Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal remain at the developmental end, earning €520,000 and €320,000 respectively.

These numbers may seem small against Barcelona’s overall budget, but collectively they represent a vital strategic layer. By keeping emerging players on structured, scalable deals, the club ensures cost control while rewarding merit. It also signals faith in the academy pipeline, a principle that defines the Laporta era’s sustainability goals.

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Barcelona’s 2025/26 Squad Wages

(Note: These figures exclude bonuses, so actual earnings may be materially higher.)

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Financial Strategy and Sustainability

Every figure in this wage table reflects a broader strategy. Laporta’s administration has prioritised three guiding principles: control, transparency, and compliance.

First, the club has sought to eliminate deferred payments, the silent burden that inflated past wage bills beyond recognition. Only a handful of contracts still carry deferred sums, most notably Lewandowski’s, which will phase out by 2026.

Second, contracts now undergo a dual review: financial and sporting. No player is renewed without the approval of both the sporting director and the financial compliance officer. That change, implemented in 2023, has prevented reckless commitments and improved LaLiga’s trust in the club’s reporting.

Third, the focus has shifted toward salary amortisation, spreading costs sensibly across contract lengths. Instead of front-loading wages or hiding costs through add-ons, Barcelona now manages total expenditure predictably across seasons. The result is a steadier financial graph and greater long-term flexibility.

According to internal projections, the club aims to reduce the total wage bill below €200 million by 2026/27, as Lewandowski’s contract expires and younger players’ base salaries remain stable.

The Human Cost of Restructuring

For all its financial progress, this stability has not come without consequence. Several high-profile departures in recent years, including Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, and even João Félix after his loan stint, were casualties of a stricter wage framework. The club simply could not justify renewals beyond certain thresholds.

Internally, some senior players expressed frustration during early negotiations, particularly as LaLiga’s rules limited registration flexibility. Yet over time, the dressing room has aligned with the broader vision. Lewandowski himself has publicly accepted pay deferrals to help register new signings, a symbolic gesture that reflects how far the club’s culture has shifted from indulgence to responsibility.

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Revenue Recovery and the Bigger Picture

The key to maintaining this wage discipline lies not only in cutting costs but also in growing income. Commercial recovery remains central to Laporta’s strategy. Barcelona has rebuilt their sponsorship portfolio, increased matchday revenue post-Camp Nou renovation, and reactivated global partnerships.

The long-term projection suggests that if annual revenue continues to rise towards the €850 million mark, the wage-to-revenue ratio could stabilise around 55% comfortably within UEFA’s sustainable thresholds.

That stability will give Barcelona room to negotiate future renewals with players like Pedri and Yamal without reverting to financial strain. The club’s new CFO has also implemented “variable wage buffers” in forecasts, allowing for contract escalations without exceeding salary caps.

The Future

Barcelona’s wage table today is not just a list of numbers; it is a reflection of identity. The club’s ethos of “més que un club” — more than a club — has evolved from sentiment to strategy. La Masia graduates are rewarded early, foreign signings are integrated under controlled terms, and the wage bill aligns with what the club earns, not what it hopes to.

In a football world still distorted by sovereign wealth and inflated transfer markets, Barcelona’s restraint has become its competitive statement.

There will always be temptation, the beauty of another star name, the pressure to match Real Madrid’s spending power, but the scars of the past remain too fresh to forget. Laporta’s administration knows that one misstep could unravel years of repair.

The next test will come in the renewal cycles of 2027 and beyond, when players like Gavi, Cubarsí, and Balde expect raises. The challenge will be to sustain growth without losing control.

All wages are verified from Salaryleaks as of October 23, 2025