Bayern Munich endorses idea of salary cap in football

It has been a challenging summer transfer window for Bayern Munich. The German club is struggling to make necessary signings after enduring losses worth €150 million in the past 18 months. The loss of revenue is largely due to the absence of fans at Allianz Arena due to the pandemic.

Die Roten has signed Dayot Upamecano for his release clause worth €42 million, while Omar Richards and Sven Ulreich have arrived on free transfers. The German Champions need at least two more signings in key areas, but those arrivals will largely depend on the money raised from departures.

Meanwhile, things have been much better for the top English clubs and Paris Saint-Germain. There have been numerous big-money moves to England, while PSG has signed close to five players, with Lionel Messi becoming the latest high-profile player in Paris.

The other clubs in Europe find themselves in an awkward position due to the pandemic while English clubs and PSG keep spending. Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn believes that there is an urgent need for the introduction of a wage cap in football. While talking to Welt am Sonntag (via Kicker), Kahn admitted that several models for salary caps are already being discussed among clubs.

"“There has to be a salary cap. Several models are being discussed, some approaches could be adopted from the system in US professional sport. A fixed sum as a salary limit for the entire squad of a club, a so-called hard cap”“Another option would be to link expenses to the club’s income or sales. So only a certain percentage of income or sales may be spent on salaries, which would be a so-called soft cap.”"

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Salary caps will allow all clubs in Europe to have a level playing ground. However, the implementation of salary caps will take some time. UEFA had previously introduced financial fair play rules to keep a check on the spending, but it has not made the desired impact until now.

Die Roten has not been traditional big spenders in the transfer window for many years. They did break the bank for Lucas Hernandez in 2018 as they were looking to revamp the ageing squad. However, the pandemic has forced the German club to spend cautiously in the last two summer windows.

Rekordmeister will also significantly benefit from the salary cap as they have found it difficult to negotiate new deals for key players in the past 12 months. A certain limit for overall salary outlay will ensure that contract negotiations are much smoother since players will know how much the club can meet their demands.

Meanwhile, Kahn also confirmed that Robert Lewandowski is not going anywhere this summer. The Polish striker has been linked with a couple of top Premier League clubs, but Die Roten is in no mood to part ways with the best striker in the world.