Marcelino Raises Alarm About The Growing Financial Gap Between La Liga and England. Is It a Concern for Spanish Football?
Villarreal head coach Marcelino has expressed serious concern about the widening financial disparity between Spanish clubs and their English counterparts, warning that La Liga risks losing its competitive edge if the trend continues as even lower tier sides are able to flex their financial muscles to get star names from the Spanish top-flight.
Speaking in an interview with La SER, Marcelino highlighted how increasing numbers of Spanish players are being lured away by clubs outside Spain, particularly from England’s lower tiers, due to superior financial power.
“Now many Spanish players are leaving our league. There are Championship teams that are financially on par with more than half of the clubs in La Liga,” Marcelino said, underlining how television revenue and commercial income have tilted heavily in England’s favour.
The Villarreal manager pointed to his own club’s situation to illustrate the problem. Despite Villarreal being a regular European contender and competing in the UEFA Champions League, Marcelino noted that they remain vulnerable when English clubs enter the market.
“In our case, we’re a Champions League team, we had a Spanish international, and then Crystal Palace, not one of England’s top clubs, came along and signed Yeremy Pino for a significant sum of money and with a higher salary than any Spanish team could pay,” he explained.
While Marcelino’s remarks reflect broader concerns rather than a league-wide collapse, they echo a growing sentiment within Spanish football.
La Liga clubs, outside of giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and to some extent, Atletico Madrid, often struggle to match the wages and transfer fees offered by even mid-table Premier League sides.
This imbalance has been driven largely by England’s lucrative domestic and international broadcasting deals, which significantly outstrip those of Spain.
Marcelino warned that unless structural and financial reforms are strengthened, Spanish clubs could increasingly find themselves positioned as selling teams rather than destinations for elite talent.