Catalan media “World Sports” cited expert Roger Torrell’s viewpoint indicating that Lenglet’s departure signifies a significant step forward for Barcelona in resolving their financial troubles. The Frenchman’s departure will free up at least 6 million euros in registration space.
The deal involving Lenglet is divided into two parts. Firstly, the player will extend his contract with Barcelona, extending the term from 2026 to 2027. After the extension, the player will be loaned to Atletico Madrid. Both of these operations are of great significance for Barcelona in dealing with registration issues. World Sports is even optimistically suggesting that at this rate, Barcelona will not only be able to complete player registrations but may also have room to sign new players before the transfer window closes.
Firstly, let’s look at the contract extension. Lenglet’s current post-tax salary is approximately 8 million euros, with the total pre-tax salary around 16 million. His contract is extended to three years without a raise, spreading the total income of 32 million euros over three seasons. This means that on the financial statements, his single-season salary and tax combined will be 10.6 million euros. Through this operation, Barcelona will create considerable space on its financial reports.
Then, let’s look at the loan. After Lenglet is loaned to Atletico Madrid, the Rojiblancos will shoulder a large portion of the central defender’s salary, which will also help Barcelona free up more space for registering other players or even reconsidering signing new players.
The conclusion drawn by Spanish media is that through these dual operations, it will help Barcelona meet the “1-to-1” requirement (Barcelona currently can only achieve 1-to-0.7, meaning for every 10 million euros of fiscal space created by selling players, only 7 million can be used for other transactions or registrations) during financial audits, and leave at least 6 million euros of space for signings or player registrations.