Trouble in paradise: How Barcelona’s crisis left women’s team short of players

How times have changed. For the past few years Barcelona have been the team everyone wanted to join: five consecutive Champions League finals, stylish football, leaders in women’s football, a stunning city and Ballon d’Or winners for teammates. However, 10 years after becoming professional, the three-time European champions are a club in trouble.

Restricted by La Liga’s financial fair play rules, the women’s team have had a calamitous summer transfer window. There have been six departures – all to the Women’s Super League – while the midfielder Alba Caño is leaving for the NWSL in January. They made only one signing, Laia Aleixandri on a free transfer from Manchester City.

It may only be the men’s first team that play in La Liga but the salary limit imposed by the governing body applies to the whole club . Barcelona are not just a football club but have various professional teams across different sports and they are all affected by the club’s financial crisis stemming from the men’s football side. The teams affected include women’s football, basketball, handball, futsal, the Barça academies and roller hockey.

“It would be better for everyone if each sport had its own regulations,” Xavi O’Callaghan, director of professional sports at the club, said. “Having the professional football league control everything else, it doesn’t make much sense. But we have to play with these rules even if they aren’t the fairest.”

The women’s football team has a pool of €13.75m (£11.9m) for salaries, a total that counts towards La Liga’s salary limit. The departure of the six players came with the intention of keeping to that sum and maintaining the financial balance between the women’s team and the rest of the club.

“The women’s team has increased its salary by €1m [to €14.75m for the 2025-26 season]; the money is there but the market is inflated,” O’Callaghan added. “To retain key players we have to spend more [on them] and rely more on the youth system.”

The problem is that some of the younger players are already leaving. Caño, who is 21, rejected a new deal and opted to sign for Boston Legacy FC. The 19-year-old Lucía Corrales was in a similar situation and signed for London City Lionesses (for €450,000). Judit Pujols, 20, has left for Wolfsburg while 19-year-old Emilia Szymczak is on loan at Liverpool and Giulia Dragoni (18) is at Roma.

The loss of experienced players such as Ingrid Engen, Jana Fernández and Fridolina Rolfö has raised eyebrows, particularly the latter. The Sweden international joined Manchester United in August. The worst part? Barcelona did not receive a fee for the 31-year-old and, with one year left on her contract, had to pay to terminate her deal early.

When Marc Vives, sporting director of the women’s team, was asked about Rolfö’s exit by Sport , he made it clear that it was partly a financial decision. “We considered her performances and found that they were not optimal,” he said. “And we decided that it was better for her leave in order for us to help this balance between the salary limit and the sporting aspect.”

Barcelona may still have the firepower to win another domestic treble but with a weakened squad that contains 17 senior players listed on their website, winning another Champions League could be beyond them. With so little depth, one injury could throw their season into disarray.

Many positions lack back-up – Ewa Pajor, for example, is the only central striker in the squad. Two full-backs are internationals – Ona Batlle and Esmee Brugts – but the third in the pecking order is the 18-year-old Aïcha Cámara, who made her first-team debut in the Copa Catalunya in February.

That could possibly be addressed in the January window, but with the finances of the whole club up in the air that is far from certain. An even bigger concern is that as many as nine players are out of contract next summer, including Mapi León, Clàudia Pina, Batlle, Caroline Graham Hansen, Salma Paralluelo and Cata Coll. The following summer Alexia Putellas’s contract runs out.

These are troubled times for the Spanish champions and their status as leaders in women’s football is no longer something the Catalan club can take for granted.

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Header image: [Photograph: Francisco Guasco/EPA]