BARCELONA, April 25 — Barcelona said yesterday they had secured €1.45 billion (US$1.6 billion or RM7.1 billion) in funding for a redevelopment plan and would start the renovation of the Camp Nou stadium on June 1.

The club said in a statement that the money had come from deals with 20 investors who would receive repayment over periods of between five and 24 years. Barcelona said they would start paying back the loans when the work was completed.

In addition to the football stadium the plan, called ‘Espai Barca’, includes spending on other club facilities. It includes €420 million earmarked for the Palau Blaugrana, home of the club’s basketball and handball teams, and €20 million for the Johan Cruyff stadium where the men’s reserve and women’s football teams play.

The club said they expected the work on the Camp Nou to be completed by 2026. The men’s first team will play at the Olympic stadium on Montjuic before returning in the 2024-25 season to a Camp Nou not yet at full capacity.

Barcelona are emulating their main Spanish rivals Real Madrid who began the latest renovation of their Bernabeu Stadium in 2019.

The club is emerging from a financial hole which led to losses of €481 million in 2020/21 which led to the departure of the club’s all-time leading scorer Lionel Messi.

Last summer the club raised around €750 million by selling 25 per cent of their La Liga television rights for the next 25 years and 49 per cent of its Barca Studios. — AFP