“The return to Camp Nou is very, very close," said FC Barcelona captain Marc-André ter Stegen yesterday. However, Catalan journalists have revealed that an inspection of the construction site of the Blaugrana stadium has detected over 200 irregularities. The club has less than a month to fix them.

200 irregularities 30 days before the return

We are all excited about returning to Spotify Camp Nou, our home, where we want to play many games this season. It is now very, very close, said Marc-André ter Stegen before the Gamper Cup match against Como 1907 (5-0) at Estadi Johan Cruyff. However, it seems that the FC Barcelona captain may be wrong.

Catalan radio station RAC1 reported that an inspection by the European Club Association (ECA) at the Camp Nou construction site found more than 200 irregularities. Meanwhile, there is just over a month to go before the Blaugrana first home game against Valencia, scheduled for September 14. And the works must be finished several days before the match so that the authorities have time to issue permits.

RAC1's reports cast serious doubt on the credibility of the club's announcement that it would return to Camp Nou at the start of the season. FC Barcelona has repeatedly set dates that it has later failed to meet, the latest example being the Gamper Cup, which was to be played at Camp Nou in front of 60,000 fans. However, the club did not obtain the permits and had to face Como at the second team’s stadium in front of 6,000 culés.

In recent days, there have been reports that FC Barcelona will open more sections of the stands as work progresses, starting with a capacity of 27,000 and ending with 60,000. However, nothing is known about the existence of a plan B. A temporary return to Montjuic was ruled out by president Joan Laporta himself, a move to Espanyol's stadium would be unacceptable to the socios, and staying at Estadi Johan Cruyff would lead to huge financial losses and dissatisfaction among fans who would not be able to enter the stadium.