At first, and maybe second, glance it would appear that a world record-busting move by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale is not exactly in line with the pledge by the Uefa president, Michel Platini, to put the brakes on the game's overheating finances.

Arsène Wenger, who has long made his distaste for spiralling wages and transfer fees plain, said it was "a joke" that Madrid would spend so much in the same season that FFP was introduced.

But a combination of the series of concessions negotiated by the biggest clubs through the European Club Association to Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules and Real Madrid's huge revenue‑generating potential mean the two things are not quite as contradictory as they might appear.

Much to the chagrin of its critics, who fear it will "lock in" the established order, the FFP break-even rules favour the biggest earning clubs. And of those, Real Madrid have consistently been the biggest for the past eight years.

The latest Deloitte Money League report calculated they had become the first to break the €500m annual revenue barrier, with their total of €512.6m an increase of 11% on last year. The Spanish TV rights model, with Real Madrid and Barcelona keeping the lion's share, in contrast to the more equitable division in England, and a concerted drive to exploit the brand abroad helped.

Since those figures were compiled, Real have signed a new, 30% more lucrative shirt sponsorship deal and started work on a stadium redevelopment scheme. As far as the FFP calculations are concerned, total transfer outlay is less important than you might think. Transfer fees can be amortised over the length of a player's contract, making wages the more important factor and perhaps explaining Real's keenness to move players on as well as bring them in. Gonzalo Higuain has gone to Napoli for £32m and various names have been mooted as potential part-exchange makeweights for Tottenham's Bale.

Real are well known for being keen to pay their transfer fees in instalments – hence why Tottenham are still owed money for Luka Modric and while Real's debt is often quoted as €590m and they remain under investigation by the European Commission over a land deal with the city council, that figure measures their entire liabilities.

Under the accounting measures employed by English clubs, the blogger Swiss Ramble worked out last year the figure would be €146m – less than Arsenal or Manchester United.

Under the FFP rules, clubs are allowed €45m leeway over the first two seasons and can also disregard deals signed before the rules were announced. Even if they fall foul, if they can show a positive "direction of travel" it will act as mitigation.

All of which means that Madrid, with their huge earning power, are a less startling example of football's refusal to bend to Platini's will than Manchester City, Paris St-Germain and Monaco.