Big-spending Real Madrid must rake in a huge €200 million from player sales if they are to balance their books for the financial year, according to reports in Spain.
The Bernabeu outfit were one of the most active clubs in the summer transfer window, spending big to appease returning manager Zinedine Zidane.
Los Blancos spent €350 million on the signings of Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo Goes in the summer transfer window.
They made €150 million of that back with the sales of Marcos Llorente, Keylor Navas, Raul de Tomas, Mateo Kovacic and Theo Hernandez.
That difference of €200 million is a concern for the club and are now worried about the potential repercussions. UEFA’s rulings state that the maximum net spend one club can have is €100 million, which means Real Madrid have some work to do.
Real face potential sanctions from La Liga or UEFA, unless they shed some more from their wage bill and sell players in the winter window.
Two top-earning players that have been heavily linked with a departure but are yet to go are Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez.
Bale and Rodriguez have been at Real Madrid for a number of years now, which means that the sale of either player would come close to wiping out the transfer deficit.
Does that mean the club can’t sign any more players like Paul Pogba? No, but the priority is to make money through player sales. Any January deal that involves a swap deal is a non-starter due to these Financial Fair restrictions.