Wolfsburg director of sport Klaus Allofs admits the club need to look into reducing players' wages following criticism in the German media.
The Bundesliga side have come under fire after reports that midfielder Diego earned more annually than the chairman of the club's main backer, Volkswagen AG.
Wolfsburg have the largest squad in the top flight with 35 players, and Allofs is aware they need to tighten their finances.
"It's certainly the case that one or two players were offered a bit too much in the past," said Allofs, who joined the club in October. "Our job is to do certain things better."
However, he also admits more money may be spent before costs are reduced.
"We were brought here to have more success," Allofs said. "That also means investing, but only where it makes sense.
"In the mid-term, we want to be competing in Europe again, but we don't want to be throwing our money around."
Allofs has already sanctioned the signing of Ivan Perisic from Borussia Dortmund this winter for a fee believed to be in the region of 7.5 million euros.
Wolfsburg have had a poor season to date and lie 15th in the table at the midway stage.
