Money is missing to finish the works of the Camp Nou

BarcelonaRafael Yuste is exhausting his days as the top official at Barça. The Barcelona-based businessman, a loyal childhood friend of Joan Laporta, took over the club on an interim basis from the electoral period in March until the end of June. From July 1, Laporta, who has acted as president-elect in recent months, will take office and begin his second consecutive term. And among the matters he will have to address with some urgency are the budget and financing of the Camp Nou works.

With the first two tiers fully operational since mid-March, efforts are now focused on the third tier, which has been built from scratch. Its inauguration is planned in phases during the next season, with priority for the side and the main stand. But beyond the reopening schedule, which may have delays with a negative impact on the club's ordinary income, from the Blaugrana offices, the need to seek more resources is acknowledged, not only to complete the comprehensive renovation of the stadium but also to tackle other works within Espai Barça.

Barça sources acknowledge in this newspaper that they are studying the right moment to address this issue and obtain the approval of the delegates to extend a credit that has been close to being exhausted for months. According to data available from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the total structured financing of the securitization fund linked to the comprehensive renovation of the new Camp Nou and its surroundings amounts to 1,377 million euros, excluding financial costs. Of this amount, by the end of 2025, 1,009 had already been spent, representing 73% of the total. The expenditure during 2025, a year in which the Blaugrana stadium was closed for works until the end of November, was 388 million, about 32 per month. At this rate of disbursement, the last update from the CNMV indicated that by May 2026 there would be no money left to continue with the works.

The reality in early June indicates that the works are continuing their course because Barça has made an effort to ensure this, despite multiple imponderables. Goldman Sachs has not released the committed capital gladly – only when it has received certifications of completed work – and the club has had to put money from its ordinary budget to prevent the reform from stopping, as Ferran Olivé acknowledged in an interview with ARA before the elections. "We will have to negotiate with Limak [...]. Many things have happened. There will be money that Limak will have to return to us," stated the person who has all the signs of being the new economic vice-president of Barça. Reaching this point, with the third tier half-finished, the installation of the roof pending to start in the summer of 2028, and a new exile in Montjuïc agreed with the Barcelona City Council, Laporta plans to ask the Barça member for the green light to request more money. As in all large public and private works, cost overruns – between 350 and 450 million euros, according to unofficial sources familiar with the project – are part of the process.

More advertising on the first team's Barça jersey

Now the internal debate is about the ideal moment to call the compromisers. There is the option of taking advantage of the extraordinary assembly that must be held in the short term to ratify the new board to deal with this matter, but this would mean having the new financing more advanced to be able to present it. The other solution is to let this summer pass and use the call for each autumn, that of the approval of the closing of the previous economic year and the budget for the current season, to talk about the numbers and financing of Espai Barça.

On the other hand, if the negotiation does not go wrong against all odds, the incoming board will also have to validate at the assembly a sponsorship agreement with Ohana Development, a company from the United Arab Emirates that will build a Barça-themed residential complex. As part of this alliance, the first football team will carry advertising for the initiative below the number, precisely in the space that UNHCR has occupied in recent years. Since the official jersey is involved, the approval of the compromisers is necessary, which can come in the summer or in the autumn. It is up to Laporta to spread out the votes more or less.