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‘Barca cannot sign Mbappe or Haaland in the next two seasons’
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 02.02.23. | 21:04
La Liga needs to attract some star players but it won't be Catalans who will buy them
Maybe the Premier League is the strongest league in Europe, maybe it’s the most exciting league, and it’s certainly the wealthiest, but it’s not the best, at least not in recent years. It is Spanish La Liga. Since the year 2000, Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona were the Champions League winners 10 times (combined) while three times other clubs ended up being runner-ups (Atletico Madrid twice, Valencia), which means this country participated in 13 out of the last 22 finals, compared to 5 wins and 7 second places for English clubs. And yet La Liga is constantly losing its biggest stars, and it looks that only Real Madrid is the club who could attract the best players in the world, according to the league’s executives.
Javier Tebas: "Mbappe and Haaland can end up playing in La Liga, but only for Real Madrid. Barcelona's economic situation makes it very hard for them to sign players like that. In fact, I would say it's impossible." pic.twitter.com/MZej73PM0d
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) February 2, 2023
In recent years, superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Christian Bale and Sergio Ramos left the country and La Liga, for various reasons, not to mention not so big players like Casemiro or Varane. One of the priorities for the league is to attract big starts again, but under the current financial situation, it will be almost impossible for anybody, apart Real Madrid. The Royal club is the only one which could sign such players in the near future, not only due to its status but also due to the a heathy financial situation, something which cannot be said about Barcelona. And La Liga president Javier Tebas made that abundantly clear.
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Asked if La Liga could welcome star players like Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland (transfer targets for Real and Barcelona) in the near future, Tebas said:
"Hopefully it will be like this, that both players play in LaLiga but these two players could only be at Real Madrid, because the economic situation of FC Barcelona would not allow them to access this type of player. Neither this season nor the next. I see it as impossible".
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La Liga introduced a system of strict spending restrictions in 2013, which it says increases the competitive balance of the Spanish league and encourages clubs to adopt longer-term approaches to spending and the Catalans are having trouble fitting in, due to their financial plight. A certainly gloomy prediction for the fans, but if they manage to win this year’s championship with the squad they have, many will be quite happy without Messi or Haaland in their ranks.
