BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona will hope to win a seventh successive Liga F title this season, as well as add a fourth UEFA Women's Champions League crown in six years to their trophy cabinet, but this year they face an uphill battle.
Coach Pere Romeu has maintained the nucleus of the side which lost last season's Champions League final to Arsenal, but he has seen the squad's depth stripped by six major departures in recent weeks, including Sweden international Fridolina Rolfö (to Manchester United) and young Spain defender Jana Fernández (to London City Lionesses).
The Spanish champions now have only 17 first-team players registered ahead of Saturday's Liga F opener against newly promoted Alhama, and any injuries could hurt their season before it even really begins.
But why have Barça got such a threadbare squad? Notably, the financial rules imposed by LaLiga on the running of the men's team have forced the club to streamline spending across the board, including the women's team and men's basketball team. But is there more to it than that?
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What's it got to do with LaLiga?
Every club in LaLiga -- the top flight of men's football in Spain -- has a spending cap each year. The limit is roughly determined by a club's revenue minus non-sporting costs and debt repayments. The last publicly available information released by the league earlier this year revealed Barça's cap is around €460 million annually.
That money accounts for how much the Catalan club can spend on wages for first-team players, amortization payments on transfers, and the salary paid to coach Hansi Flick and his assistant. However, also capped within that €460m -- and known as "non-registrable costs" -- is spending on the rest of Flick's first-team staff, other sports teams and academy costs.
Last season, Barça budgeted €91m for "non-registrable costs," but spent €98m. As a result, the board of directors had to provide a personal guarantee of €7m to LaLiga earlier this summer to cover the excess and avoid a reduction to their spending limit. This year's budget has increased slightly to €95m.
None of the previous overspending has been attributed to the women's team -- which is the most self-sufficient of Barça's teams -- but they are feeling the consequences of the financial restraint taking place across the club and have had to reduce their wage bill and focus more on youth players as a result.
Is this affecting other clubs?
The rules are the same for all LaLiga clubs, but none have as many other teams as Barça, who pride themselves on being a multi-sports club. The majority of Spanish men's teams now have a women's side, while Real Madrid also operate a fairly big basketball operation, but only Barça have professional status across five other teams: basketball, women's football, futsal, handball and hockey.
Their costs on first-team staff, youth teams and academy projects around the globe also dwarf most clubs. Of the €95m budget for the upcoming season, €32m has been allotted for first-team staff and youth teams, €6.2m for global youth academies, €28.75m for basketball, €13.75m for women's football, €7.5m for handball, €4m for futsal and €2m for hockey.
Will LaLiga change anything to encourage investment in women's teams?
Yes. For now, starting this season, the first €2m spent on women's teams will be exempt from LaLiga's cap, a source explained to ESPN.
There are also deeper problems here, too, with the lack of competition in Liga F, the difference in prize money and domestic television rights with the Women's Super League (WSL) (€7m annually shared between 16 teams via the TV deal in Spain, compared with around €14m between 12 teams in England) and the quality of the stadiums, playing surfaces and training facilities all issues which need addressing.
Which players have left Barcelona?
While six players have departed already, it's important to note that only one of them, Rölfo, started the Champions League final in May. But even she was beginning to lose her place at left back to 22-year-old Netherlands international Esmee Brugts.
That said, the announcement that the 31-year-old's contract had been rescinded this summer (ahead of its reported end in 2026) came as a surprise. She scored the winning goal in the 2023 Champions League final and Barça have lost experience, versatility, depth and leadership with her switch to United.
Ingrid Engen's decision to join Lyon after running down her contract also takes depth away from Romeu. A useful player in midfield and at center back, the Norway international will be missed, but her decision to leave was also fueled by a desire to play more.
Fernández's switch to London City -- worth up to €300,000, according to a source -- was slightly harder to stomach. The 23-year-old defender was not a regular starter, but she came through the academy, is a senior Spain international and was seen as a player both for the present and future.
Meanwhile, the departures of goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck (Aston Villa), forward Bruna Vilamala (América) and defender Martina Fernández (Everton) were not unexpected as none were part of the club's short-term plans.
It's not just this summer, though. The team's depth has gradually disappeared over recent years. Last season, Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal), Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Keira Walsh (Chelsea), and Sandra Paños (América) all left. The year before, Asisat Oshoala, Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, Laia Codina and Geyse exited. Some have been replaced; others haven't.
Have they signed anyone?
So far there has been one new arrival: Spain defender Laia Aleixandri returned to the club on a free transfer from Manchester City. There was also investment last year in Kika Nazareth and Ewa Pajor.
Will more players leave?
That is not in the club's plans, sources said. This season's budget of just under €14m does represent a €1m increase from last year. However, that money has been allotted to keeping the current players. As the market continues to inflate -- with the world-record transfer fee in women's football broken for a third time this year when Mexico forward Lizbeth Ovalle joined Orlando Pride from Tigres for €1.3m recently -- salaries continue to increase.
Barça are in a precarious situation in that sense with eight of their 17 first-team players out of contract in 2026: Marta Torrejón, Mapi León, Salma Paralluelo, Clàudia Pina, Caroline Graham Hansen, Alexia Putellas, Cata Coll and Ona Batlle.
There are some huge contract renewals to be negotiated in the coming months, which is now Barca's priority.
"In women's football, competitions like the English Women's Super League are inflating the market," Xavier O'Callaghan, Barcelona's director of professional sports, told ESPN. "That makes it increasingly difficult and costly to retain important players. It complicates things for us.
"For that reason, there have been departures because the club has decided to optimize its resources in a certain way. That said, an extra €1m has been allocated to the wage bill for the women's team because the market is inflated and you have to spend more [on salaries].
"But, from now on, we will have to be more selective and make greater use of our youth academy. We have a team to compete."
What do the players make of the situation?
"Firstly, I'm a little sad about some departures," back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí told ESPN. "At the end of the day, they are people I was close to and I'll miss them, but it's not down to me.
"We have to carry on with what we have. The core of the team remains the same as in recent years. I think it's an opportunity to give young players a chance, because sometimes it's difficult to establish yourself in the first team when there aren't many opportunities.
"Now we have a smaller squad than usual, it's an opportunity for the young players to progress a little faster. Of course, each player progresses at their own pace and knows what their optimum is, but I think that right now it's a great opportunity for them.
"I have no doubt that we have the same ambition as always to win titles again, especially the Champions League, which unfortunately we couldn't win last year. I think it all starts with the mentality we have as a team; we have the quality.
"It's true that there are teams this year that have strengthened well, so it's going to be difficult, but we have never taken the Champions League for granted. We've always fought, we've competed, we've won, and that's why we've reached finals. We've lost them, we've won them, but it's all been thanks to hard work and never thinking that games were going to be easy. This year will be no different."
Which youngsters could come through?
Barça already have a strong group of youngsters in the first team who they are expecting to take strides forward this season. That includes Spain internationals Vicky López (19) and Salma Paralluelo (21), who for different reasons have not always played as much as they would have liked over the last 12 months.
Pina (24) is slightly older, but last year was considered a breakout season for her and there is a hope the Spain forward, recently among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, will establish herself among the world's best over the next 12 months.
Behind López, Paralluelo and Pina, there's Sydney Schertenleib (18), who starred for Switzerland at Euro 2025 in the summer and has already shown she is ready for more minutes, too.
Beyond those four, there are several teenagers who have been with the first team in preseason and will get opportunities this year. Clara Serrajordi (17), Lucía Corrales (19), Aïcha Cámara (18), Emilia Szymczak (19) and Celia Segura (18) are all highly rated and could be handed more chances to shine in the absence of more senior players.