Barcelona set to lose more players, wage bill still €320m over the limit despite departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann - reports

The never-ending saga of misfortune extends to FC Barcelona as the club finds itself stuck in further financial turmoil. The combined departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, among others, were not enough for the Barcelonistes to solve their problems of managing wages below the permissible limit.

Management amended wage restructuring hastily to register several of the new signings this year. Additionally, the wage cuts throughout the summer saved the club a resultant sum of around €200 million in the middle of a financial crisis. But the current situation is again an unsustainable one.

The prolonged issue of being in debt is creating a massive vacuum in managing other operations efficiently. La Liga has restricted Barcelona to having a salary limit of €98 million. Earlier, that imposition was permissible up to €382 million.

Even after the regulations aiding Financial Fair Play rules, Barcelona's current wage bill is still around €420 million. Doing the simple math, a staggering figure of €320 million is off the maximum limit! A very transparent problem that urgently needs fixing.

How does this affect La Liga and Barcelona?

La Liga will not impose any punishment on Barcelona as long as they put in efforts constantly to cut costs and try to adhere towards the permissible limit. It also means the club won't be able to spend lavishly during the transfer window anytime soon. The number one priority for the club is and should be towards balancing the books before attending to focus on the issues on the pitch.

Next season could be a repeat of this summer at Camp Nou. There is a high possibility that some of the most valuable names from the current squad might be leaving to manage wage bills in Barcelona. The club is trying its best to resolve issues with players like Sergi Roberto, Ousmane Dembele and Samuel Umtiti in pursuing them to accept voluntary pay cuts soon.

Barcelona would not be willing to let players whose contracts expire at the end of the season leave for free. They need financial security over those assets to recover something sustainable from their investments. Blaugrana has struggled to produce desirable results so far this season, making it all the more difficult to raise their valuations.

Of course, the board could be planning to bring in one or two players to fix their recurring issues, but they won't be thinking about signing players on lucrative terms. The league's rules would still allow Barcelona to spend an added 25% of the current cost of the team.

That means the Culers can rejoice to have around €25 million to spend. However, taking on the inevitable event in sacking Ronald Koeman sometime soon would cost the club a further €13 million.