Málaga return to LaLiga with second-lowest salary cap

Málaga CF are coming back to LaLiga EA Sports with very limited financial room. As Sport reports, LaLiga has published the Limit of Deportivo Squad Cost (LCPD) for the 2026/27 season and the blue-and-whites sit second from the bottom: €33.634m, only above Sevilla (€20.161m). The figure is the one set after the transfer window closed.

What the cap really means

Sport adds that Málaga are 19th out of 20 in the league’s ranking for financial capacity to build a squad. The gap to Sevilla is a bit over €13m, and the next-lowest team is Getafe, with €56.704m—a difference of more than €23m.

To show the scale of the mismatch, the same piece places the big clubs at the top: Real Madrid lead with €832.786m, followed by Barcelona (€582.769m) and Atlético Madrid (€361.287m). Sport also notes that Madrid’s cap is almost 25 times Málaga’s.

Málaga’s tight budgeting

Sport points out that the LCPD isn’t just a payroll figure: it includes fixed and variable salaries, Social Security, bonuses, agent commissions and amortisation of signings, plus certain costs linked to the coaching staff, the reserve team and the academy. LaLiga also says the amount requested by a club does not have to be fully spent.

Sport highlights the market effort to cope with that margin. In the final day of the window Málaga signed Jens Cajuste and Juan Berrocal, after earlier additions including Pablo Martínez, Juan Cruz, Carlos Dotor and Fernando Calero. Overall, the 20 LaLiga teams add up to €3.109.673m in total cap versus €250.510m across Segunda’s 22 clubs, underlining the different economic scenario Málaga face upon returning.