Barcelona's levers bought time. The stadium bought the recovery
Barcelona sold 25% of its TV money for 25 years to lift its squad cost limit. The limit is now up 66% in a year — and not because of the levers.
Analysis
Regulation
The limits on what clubs may spend and who sets them: LaLiga's squad cost limit, UEFA's 70% rule and the Premier League's new system.
European football has been regulating club spending for over a decade, but each competition does it differently, and the difference between models is not technical — it is philosophical. LaLiga blocks player registration if a club exceeds its squad cost limit, a preventive mechanism that acts before the damage is done. UEFA, with its 70% squad cost ratio, reviews accounts after the fact and sanctions with fines or sporting restrictions. The Premier League, having scrapped its Profit and Sustainability Rule, has implemented a Squad Cost Ratio that moves closer to the European model. Here we break down how each system works, what figures apply to each club, and whether these rules protect competitiveness or simply entrench the clubs already at the top.
Do football's financial rules entrench the clubs on top?
Cost caps are accused of freezing the hierarchy. The evidence is mixed — but the real entrenchment engine sits on the revenue side, and almost nobody looks at it.
PSR is gone: the Premier League spending rules that replaced it
From 2026/27 the Premier League caps squad costs at 85% of revenue. Points deductions only start at 115%. What changed after the Everton and Forest era.
From FFP to UEFA's 70% rule: what actually changed
Financial Fair Play was replaced in 2022. The squad cost rule caps spending at 70% of revenue, and in June 2026 it cost nine clubs real money. How it works.
How LaLiga's salary cap actually works
LaLiga's squad cost limit explained with 2025/26 figures: how it's calculated, which costs count against it, and why signed players can't be registered.