Del Nido Carrasco: "It has been the worst summer of my life" after fixing Sevilla's salary cap

Sevilla FC president José María del Nido Carrasco appeared before the media on Tuesday to review the opening weeks of the season and the summer transfer market. With his team showing encouraging form and taking 7 points from a possible 12, the Andalusian executive made an unusually personal confession: the past few months have been the hardest summer of his life.

• Del Nido Carrasco admits he has endured the toughest summer since taking over as Sevilla president.
• The club's net debt has dropped from €90 million to €60 million in just three months.
• Squad spending has fallen from €265 million to €135 million in two years, with sales above €50 million this window.
• Sevilla spent €17 million on new signings after offloading players on high wages.
• Youssouf Fofana's transfer was registered at 11:57 pm on deadline day, barely before the window closed.

An exhausting summer between salary cap limits and a failed club sale

Del Nido Carrasco made no secret of the strain involved in building a competitive squad while working within an extremely tight salary cap. The process began on May 27, immediately after a punishing end to the previous campaign, and forced the sporting department to move on several players whose wages no longer matched their contribution on the pitch.

It has been the hardest summer of my life. We have been working since May 27, coming off a very tough end to the season. We gave everything to build the best possible squad and the most responsible one. I did not stop to breathe because I gave it my all, just like everyone who works at Sevilla, in this market. But I still have strength, as always.

The Sevilla president backed up his words with concrete figures on the club's financial recovery. Net debt, which stood at €90 million, has fallen to €60 million in the space of three months. He framed that progress as part of the economic and sporting regeneration the club has been pushing through over the past two years.

Sharp spending cuts and a more efficient squad

The budget reduction has been striking. In 24 months, Sevilla's expenses have dropped from €265 million to €135 million, a decrease that reflects two seasons of sporting struggle and the need to pursue a more sustainable model. The priority, according to the president, is ensuring every euro invested delivers results on the field.

On the sales side, the club generated €70 million last season and just over €50 million in the current one. Those deals, combined with the wage savings, freed up room to operate in the market. The outcome was a €17 million outlay on new arrivals, a world away from the mere €250,000 spent a year earlier.

Fans keep up their protest against the board of directors

Despite the positive balance defended by the president, a section of the Sevilla support remains unhappy with the current leadership. At every home match at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, part of the crowd calls for the board and Del Nido Carrasco to step down, something the executive says he would never try to lecture the fans about.

I am nobody to tell the fans what to do; they are always behind their team. We are very close to finishing the economic and sporting regeneration. Would I prefer there to be no animosity towards me? Of course.

The president accepts the pressure with composure and trusts that the sporting project, now led by Luis García Plaza, will return Sevilla to a comfortable position in the table. The main objective for the season, he stressed, is to leave behind the anguish of recent campaigns.

Fofana's signing: a deal taken to the wire at 11:57 pm

One of the most tense moments of the summer, as the president told it, was the arrival of Youssouf Fofana. The coach had requested a defensive midfielder, a number 6 to complete the midfield, and that demand pushed the sporting department to the limit on the final day of the window.

The deal with Olympique de Lyon collapsed, and Sevilla had to react quickly. Shortly after eight in the evening, the player came back on the market and the club reached out to him immediately. The paperwork was uploaded to La Liga's platform at 11:57 pm, with the clock almost exhausted.

The coach asked us for a pivot, a number 6, and to meet that request we moved heaven and earth on the last day of the market. The Olympique de Lyon option for Youssouf fell through and we contacted him. At 8:12 pm he was back on the market... until 11:57 pm, when we uploaded the documentation to La Liga's platform, we did not breathe easy. We almost had to speak to the Pope to bring in Fofana and satisfy the coach.

Positive balance and the goal of avoiding another relegation scrap

Del Nido Carrasco summed up the transfer window with a single word: positive. He highlighted that Sevilla has managed to put together a squad that is responsible both on a sporting and financial level, while continuing to lower the average age of the group through younger additions.

The club's leadership accepts that the last two years have brought real suffering to the fans and to everyone connected with the institution. That is why the message at the start of the season is straightforward and free of grand promises: the aim is not to go through those troubles again and to keep Sevilla safely away from the bottom of the table.