There could be a lot of truth in the story.
Real Madrid are committed to a €400m modernisation of the Bernabeu stadium. But as always it seems that the initial cost has been underestimated and this figure could rise a lot. They've also got a debt of 100m (190m -90m for Ronaldo sale).
Another big "problem" for the club is that it is no longer easy for them to get hold of public finance for their on and off field projects. Florentino Perez knows all about the changing political situation in Spain. Between 2000 and 2007 Perez was able to finance the purchase of the "galacticos" by selling the club's training ground site for a huge inflated price to the autonomous government of the Region of Madrid - remember that Spain is really 17 separate countries on the Iberian peninsular which conduct their affairs virtually on an independent basis. The banking arm of the regional government, Banco Madrid, went bankrupt and was bailed out with public funds.
The club boasts huge revenues thanks in part due to repeatedly winning the Champions League and also their separate deal for TV rights. The premier league's broadcasting revenue is far more than La Liga's but Madrid and Barca don't suffer this as the money is not shared in the same was as in England. However, the other clubs in La Liga are
now starting to make more noises about this. So far, UEFA seemed to have turned a blind eye to what amounts to Unfair Financial Play.
The club didn't really come in for Mbappe or Neymar as they would surely have done a few years ago. So the signs are there for some relative austerity.
https://en.as.com/en/2018/07/25/football/1532523038_146870.html
