Once again, Valencia is trying to resume the Nou Mestalla works, or so it says. Thanks to the alliance with the international bank Goldman Sachs, the club's leadership is confident of refinancing its debt. In the meantime, the club is bottom of the league and its salary cap has been lowered.

Induced decline

Murciélagos’ fans are going through a sad time. Their team is the last one of the league with one point in five games and their salary cap has fallen yet again, from last season’s €84 million to €75 million. As if that wasn't enough, there was additionally a sex scandal with Rafa Mir.

It is a humiliating situation for a club with 105 years of history and that competed in Europe even a few years ago. The decline, although difficult to understand, is easy to explain. As indicated by Marca, the team has suffered 64 defeats in 157 league games since 2020, winning only 45 matches and drawing 48. They have scored 183 of the 471 points at stake.

These results are due to the policy of cutting expenses imposed by the board in 2020, which was to last 2 years after which they would invest again in sports. However, after four years debts continue to suffocate the club, and the quality of the squad has only worsened.

© Valencia CF

Another attempt to finish Nou Mestalla.

The club has decided to refinance these debts. For this purpose, it has hired Goldman Sachs, an international investment bank and financial advisor to companies, to find loans with better conditions than those of Caixa and other funds, a total of some €120m.

If the operation comes to fruition, the club could take advantage of its improved financial situation to resume work on Nou Mestalla. Lay Hoon Chan believes that some €170m are needed to finish the stadium, of which €35m could come from the sale of the land annexed to the Nou Mestalla to Atitlan, and another €80m from the CVC fund.

The conditions, however, are quite strict. Valencia has a deadline of January 12 to resume the works. Once they start again, the club will have 30 months (instead of the 42 it was asking for) to finish the stadium. According to El Desmarque, Valencia will publicly present the updated project before the end of the year. It will also have to pass the detailed plans to the city council.

© Valencia CF

Javier Gomez, general manager of La Liga described the reports as doubly positive. Many believe that with the work underway, Peter Lim will try to sell the club, and there is even talk about Valencia becoming ultimately host of the 2030 World Cup. However, Valencia fans are used to the fact that little of the talk about the club has come to fruition lately.