<p>Barcelona's salary cap has been significantly reduced because of its financial struggles, becoming more than seven times smaller than that of rival Real Madrid, the Spanish league said Wednesday.</p>.<p>The league said Barcelona's spending limit on salaries for the 2021-22 season has been set at 97 million euros ($113 million), about 285 million euros ($334 million) less than a year ago.</p>.<p>The reduction was part of the reason the Catalan club failed to give Lionel Messi a new contract and led to him joining Paris Saint-Germain.</p>.<p>Messi reportedly earned nearly 140 million euros ($163 million) per season, although he said he had agreed to cut his salary in half so he could stay with the club.</p>.<p>Each club has a different salary cap calculated based on a series of factors that include revenues, costs and debts. It is proportional to roughly 70 per cent of a club's revenues.</p>.<p>The adjustments are part of the Spanish league's longstanding financial control measures to reduce clubs' debts and keep them financially healthy.</p>.<p>Barcelona's struggles had already forced the league to slash the club's cap from a league-high 670 million euros (now $785 million) in 2019-20 to 385 million euros ($450 million) last season.</p>.<p>In addition to losing Messi, Barcelona also sent Antoine Griezmann on loan to Atlético Madrid, and its only signings this offseason were free agents.</p>.<p>Six other clubs now have bigger spending limits than Barcelona's.</p>.<p>Madrid's cap is the highest, going from 470 million euros ($550 million) to 739 million euros ($863 million), which is 642 million euros ($750 million) more than Barcelona's. Madrid benefited from better management and especially from not making big signings in recent transfer windows.</p>.<p>Sevilla followed with a cap of 200 million euros ($233 million), up from 185 million euros ($215 million) a season ago.</p>.<p>Atlético Madrid was third in the list after having its limit reduced to 171 million euros ($199 million).</p>.<p>Valencia, owned by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, was last in the list of first-division clubs, with its salary cap being cut from about 100 million ($116 million) euros to only 30 million euros ($35 million).</p>.<p>The league's total cap for top-tier clubs was at 2.27 billion euros ($2.64 billion), a figure 2 per cent lower than it was last season.</p>.<p>Clubs are already benefiting from the financial boost generated by the league's new multibillion-dollar deal with investment fund CVC.</p>.<p>The league said Spanish clubs spent 271 million euros ($316 million) in signings in the latest transfer window, the lowest among the top five European leagues. </p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>Barcelona's salary cap has been significantly reduced because of its financial struggles, becoming more than seven times smaller than that of rival Real Madrid, the Spanish league said Wednesday.</p>.<p>The league said Barcelona's spending limit on salaries for the 2021-22 season has been set at 97 million euros ($113 million), about 285 million euros ($334 million) less than a year ago.</p>.<p>The reduction was part of the reason the Catalan club failed to give Lionel Messi a new contract and led to him joining Paris Saint-Germain.</p>.<p>Messi reportedly earned nearly 140 million euros ($163 million) per season, although he said he had agreed to cut his salary in half so he could stay with the club.</p>.<p>Each club has a different salary cap calculated based on a series of factors that include revenues, costs and debts. It is proportional to roughly 70 per cent of a club's revenues.</p>.<p>The adjustments are part of the Spanish league's longstanding financial control measures to reduce clubs' debts and keep them financially healthy.</p>.<p>Barcelona's struggles had already forced the league to slash the club's cap from a league-high 670 million euros (now $785 million) in 2019-20 to 385 million euros ($450 million) last season.</p>.<p>In addition to losing Messi, Barcelona also sent Antoine Griezmann on loan to Atlético Madrid, and its only signings this offseason were free agents.</p>.<p>Six other clubs now have bigger spending limits than Barcelona's.</p>.<p>Madrid's cap is the highest, going from 470 million euros ($550 million) to 739 million euros ($863 million), which is 642 million euros ($750 million) more than Barcelona's. Madrid benefited from better management and especially from not making big signings in recent transfer windows.</p>.<p>Sevilla followed with a cap of 200 million euros ($233 million), up from 185 million euros ($215 million) a season ago.</p>.<p>Atlético Madrid was third in the list after having its limit reduced to 171 million euros ($199 million).</p>.<p>Valencia, owned by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, was last in the list of first-division clubs, with its salary cap being cut from about 100 million ($116 million) euros to only 30 million euros ($35 million).</p>.<p>The league's total cap for top-tier clubs was at 2.27 billion euros ($2.64 billion), a figure 2 per cent lower than it was last season.</p>.<p>Clubs are already benefiting from the financial boost generated by the league's new multibillion-dollar deal with investment fund CVC.</p>.<p>The league said Spanish clubs spent 271 million euros ($316 million) in signings in the latest transfer window, the lowest among the top five European leagues. </p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>