La Liga slash Madrid's wage cap - leaving Hazard and Odegaard futures uncertain

Real Madrid's wage cap will be slashed by almost £150million for the upcoming season, throwing the future of several stars into doubt.

Last season the club's maximum operating budget as allowed by La Liga stood at €473million (£403m) but that figure has shrunk to €300m (£255m) for the upcoming campaign.

The salary cap is imposed by the league and is based on the club's projected income to allow them to retain a model of economic sustainability so that their spending is within their revenue streams.

In the 2019-20 season before the pandemic kicked in, Madrid's salary budget stood at €641million - meaning that the cap has more than halved in that two-year timeframe.

That drop led to the Spanish capital club not signing any players last summer with a number of young players sold - Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Reguilon and Oscar Rodriguez were among the academy graduates to be permanently sold, as James Rodriguez joined Everton.

The loan exits of Gareth Bale, Brahim Diaz, Luka Jovic and Martin Odegaard also temporarily eased the wage bill but that quartet of players has now returned to the club.

The latest figures have been outlined by a report in The Athletic and increases the uncertainty on the future of a number of stars.

Real Madrid have added David Alaba to their squad as a free agent from Bayern Munich to offset the exit of Sergio Ramos - the club captain left the Spanish capital after a 16-year career.

The two players who the club would most like to offload are Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, whose combined wages are said to occupy 13 percent of the club's total wage bill and neither are likely to be regularly starters next season.

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Manchester United are actively pursuing a deal for central defender Raphael Varane - who is out of contract next year - while the future of Martin Odegaard, who has returned following a loan spell at Arsenal, may also be worth monitoring.

Dani Ceballos - another returning loanee from Arsenal - also faces an uncertain future, with playmaker Isco among those who the club are looking to move on.

Returning boss Carlo Ancelotti has said: "We have a very big squad, and the first thing we have to do is evaluate the players we have and reduce it a bit.

"We'll have to see how we do that. I know the squad very well, the young players too, and those coming back from loans. We have many options in the squad, (and) need to calmly evaluate everything."

Following last summer's series of exits and disproportionately greater cutbacks this summer, Madrid are now in a position where they will be tempted to make at least one sale that they would not countenance under normal circumstances.

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