Whether Iago Aspas will remain at Celta remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Celta’s legend will soon have a statue outside Balaídos. Meanwhile, work on the Gol stand inside the stadium is progressing rapidly, although the City Council is already focusing on the reconstruction of the Tribuna stand ahead of the 2030 World Cup.

Statue of Iago Aspas at Balaídos confirmed

Iago Aspas is not just the player with the most appearances in Celta de Vigo’s history. Nor is he merely the club’s all-time leading goalscorer or the best player in its history. Iago Aspas is the symbol of Celta, its figurehead. And that is why the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, proposed almost a year ago to honour him with a statue at Balaídos.

According to a statement made by the mayor in recent days, Celta’s captain gave the go-ahead to the proposal. And on Wednesday, the council approved an expenditure of €300,000 for this purpose.

The sculpture will be situated in front of the façade of the celestes’ stadium, at the junction of the Tribuna and Marcador stands, where the letters Balaídos are located. This was the choice favoured by the majority of Celta fans in the ideas competition held in October. However, the competition for the design of the statue has yet to be launched, and only then will the contract for its creation be awarded.

© Xornal Vigo | The statue of Iago Aspas will be located near the letters Balaídos.

Gol Stand nearing completion, Tribuna comes next

Meanwhile, on the western side of the celestes’ stadium, the reconstruction of the Gol stand is progressing. The changes are clearly visible: the structure of the ground floor and first tier is almost complete, and the workers are now focusing on the second tier of the new stand. According to VigoÉ, the work in concrete could be finished as early as June.

Everything suggests that the work is progressing on schedule. This would mean that the new stand at Gol will be ready by the end of 2026 or early 2027, and the capacity of Balaídos will increase to around 29,500 spectators.

© Alex | The new Gol stand will cost around €26m.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the City Council’s executive committee approved the first step towards renovating the Tribuna stand ahead of the 2030 World Cup. This involves moving back two drainage channels located in front of the stand, which are currently preventing the structure from being expanded.

The cost of this work will be €2.8 million, but the total cost of the refurbishment could exceed €60 million. The stands will be completely overhauled: capacity will increase from 5,500 to 16,000 spectators, all on a single level and under a new roof. As a result, the Vigo stadium will exceed the 40,000-seat capacity required by FIFA. However, the task is not as straightforward as it seems: there is still no design for the work, and time is running out…