Valencia’s chief executive gave an interview in which he explained that progress on the construction of the Nou Mestalla puts the club in a “position of strength”. Thanks to this, the club could raise more money from the sale of Mestalla. A sale that is already causing controversy.

“The Nou Mestalla gives us a position of strength in the sale of Mestalla”

At the start, when we needed to sell the old Mestalla to begin building the new one, the buyer was obviously aware of this. And when that happens, they don’t offer you what you think it’s worth, said Javier Solis, Valencia’s general manager, in an interview with 2PlayBook.

With the arrival of CVC and, subsequently, the magnificent work the club has done in securing financing with Goldman Sachs, the situation has been turned around. The club now has the capacity to start and complete the stadium, and that puts us in a much stronger position in the sale of the current stadium, he continued.

Valencia expects the final price of the site, comprising 90,000 square metres of buildable land, to exceed €150 million. It is worth recalling that in 2020 Deloitte attempted to sell the same site to ADU Mediterráneo for €120 million, but the deal was scuppered by the pandemic.

© Stadiumgallery | The future buyer will have to bear the cost of demolishing Mestalla, estimated at at least €10 million.

The iconic Mestalla nears its end

However, a large section of the Valencia fanbase does not look favourably upon the sale of Mestalla. The fact is, the ground has been home to the Ché side since 1923. At 103 years old, it is the second-oldest stadium in professional football in Spain, surpassed only by El Molinón.

In fact, a large section of the fanbase is opposed to the move. The Libertad VCF association even went so far as to present a project to save Mestalla, renovating it and fitting it with a full roof. However, it seems that all these attempts are doomed to failure, as work at Nou Mestalla is progressing and the stadium is due to be ready in the summer of 2027. The final season of the ‘old’ Mestalla is fast approaching.