Then vs now: The five highest salaries at Barcelona when Laporta took over compared to today

The past few days have not been easy for Barcelona president Joan Laporta and the coming week promises to be equally as challenging.

The president has no one to blame but himself for his inability to register Dani Olmo knowing well of the deadline, and now stares at a situation where the player may have to leave on a free transfer.

Needless to say, the complicated situation has raised questions over Laporta’s tenure as the Barcelona president for the club is still struggling financially to no end.

Covering a deep hole

While indeed it is right to question the president for the lack of tangible and conspicuous improvement after years, one has to go back and understand how deep in financial crisis the previous administration left the club.

As relayed by Guillem Borras Perez via Jijantes FC, comparing the five highest salaries at the club now to that when Laporta took over shows the extent to which he has had to work to stabilise the sinking ship.

Back in 2020-21 when he took over, the highest earner at the club was Lionel Messi with a gross salary of €71 million per season.

Antoine Griezmann stood second at €37.5 million while Samuel Umtiti, Sergio Busquets and Philippe Coutinho were the next three highest-paid players at €32 million, €24 million and €21 million respectively.

In comparison, Barcelona’s highest earner today is Robert Lewandowski who commands €33.3 million per season.

Frenkie de Jong stands next at €19 million per season while Ansu Fati, Jules Kounde and Raphinha close out the list at €13.9 million, €13.5 million and €12.5 million respectively.

It is thus not surprising to see why Barcelona were significantly over the allotted wage bill and struggled to return to the 1:1 rule for years.

After years of working tirelessly behind the scenes to negotiate wage cuts and salary deferring, Laporta brought Barcelona back to the 1:1 rule. Now, however, the registration issue is yet to be resolved.