It may not always feel like it for the casuals, but there is so much more to Spanish football than Barcelona and Real Madrid. There are a plethora of huge clubs with passionate, local support. Historically, Sevilla have been one of the best of the rest, and they’re in serious trouble.

By Alex Roberts

There are so many layers to this onion of a crisis, Sevilla have been in a steady and completely unsustainable decline for years. Three consecutive fourth placed finished between 2019/20 and 2021/22 have not been built upon in any way, shape, or form.

Sevilla even managed to win the Europa League back in 2022/23, although it was a bit of a ‘get out of jail free card’ for a dismal league campaign in which they finished 12th. Finally, they’ve run out of chances, and their status as a top flight club is at risk.

They used to have a strategy, finishing between third and seventh in LaLiga in 17 out of 19 seasons, from 03/04 through to 21/22. Sevilla were a poster boy for smart recruitment, buying low and selling high, reaping the benefits but also understanding the limitations.

The finances aren’t looking good. It all started two years after sporting director Monchi, the man behind their previous wheeling and dealing, left in 2017. Their aforementioned strategy shifted, and Sevilla are still trying to recover from it.

In 2019/20, Sevilla spent €188.73m on new players, including Jules Koundé and Diego Carlos, although they managed to bring €131.40m in due to player sales, with Wissam Ben Yedder’s €40m move to Monaco their biggest deal.

A year later, Sevilla were at it again, spending €74.35m and only bringing in €19.68m. These two summers showed genuine ambition, but it left the club over €100m in the red, so these big money players needed to justify their price tags.

It’s been three seasons since Sevilla sold a player for more than €30 million, with Carlos joining Aston Villa and Koundé heading to Barcelona for a reported combined €81m in 2022/23.

Thing really came to a head last summer. Following another season with losses over €50m in 2024/25, belts were tightened. After spending just €250k on incoming players, they’re now projected to reduce their losses to around €3m.

They’re not out of the woods yet. It’s recently been reported that Sevilla are spending an incredible 99% of their revenue on wages. For context, a healthy and well-run club would be adjudged to be spending between 60-70%.

Of course, success on the pitch breeds success off it. In the old days, if Sevilla were worried about money, they could sell one of their high performing prized assets to help make up the deficit. They’d be hard pressed to find a new club for any of their players at the moment.

Sevilla sit 18th, their 2-1 defeat to Osasuna, in which centre back Alejandro Catena scored a 99th minute winner, saw Luis García’s side fall into the relegation zone for the first time this season, although they’ve been on the brink for a little while now.

García was appointed in March to help put out the dumpster fire Matías Almeyda had left. He walked into a dressing room completely bereft of confidence, and, in all honesty, he’s yet to change that.

For a lot of struggling sides, you can always kinda tell what they’re trying to do. They’re usually good at a couple of things, that would indicate that maybe, just maybe, everything will be OK. Not Sevilla, they’re underperforming all over the pitch.

Let’s start at the back. Sevilla have conceded the fourth highest xG (53) and win possession in the final third just three times on average per 90 minutes. But their issues with set pieces is BY FAR their most worrying problem.

Sevilla have conceded nine goals from set pieces so far this season, the fifth most in LaLiga, and only managed to score five. Their centre backs and goalkeeper are really struggling physically, essentially, Mikel Arteta would be licking his lips if he played against them.

They’ve also conceded 11 penalties, which should come as no surprise when they’re only averaging 17.5 tackles per 90. Sevilla are very fragile at the moment with 55 goals conceded, the most in the league, and without a shift in mentality, it’s unlikely to change.

Moving up the pitch, we wish we could tell you it’s better news. Sevilla’s front line is a real case of ‘wow, I was wondering what happened to him.’ Alexis Sánchez, Adnan Januzaj, and Neal Maupay all feature, and it’s hard to discern the long term thinking behind the club’s recruitment policy.

If anything, Sevilla’s numbers are worse going forward than they are back. They’ve created just 46 big chances, the 19th fewest in LaLiga, and have compounded that by missing 27 of them.

Nigerian striker Akor Adams has been a bit of a bright spark, his eight goals and three assists in 28 games, 19 of which have been starts, make him Sevilla’s most prolific player in terms of goal contributions. If any of the current squad is due a decent move, it’s probably him.

Perhaps most frustratingly for Sevilla fans, their side started the season pretty well, they were as high as sixth in match week eight, but as the season went on, things have got worse. There may, however, be some hope in the form of local legend Sergio Ramos.

The club’s greatest ever academy product is leading a consortium of international investors hoping to purchase the club for a figure quoted as being over €400 million. The club’s debt has made it trickier than expected, but Ramos is still upbeat.

Speaking at an event in Seville recently, Ramos suggested that a resolution could be imminent, saying: “I think there will be some news in a few months, or even weeks, and we hope it will be the news we’re all hoping for. Everything is going well.”

Whether Sevilla remain in LaLiga at that point remains to be seen.

(Images from IMAGO)

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