Valencia seals deal to fund stadium switch

Valencia CF has reached an agreement with Bankia, its main creditor, by which it will settle its debt of 250 million euros with the lender in return for the club's assets, which include the current Mestalla stadium, the Paterna training facilities and a building earmarked for offices and a hotel at the new stadium.

The deal will allow work to resume on Valencia's Nueva Mestalla arena, which will have a 75,000 capacity. Work on the new stadium was halted in early 2009 when the club's financial turmoil prevented further investment in a project that had already cost 150 million euros.

"This agreement is an historic milestone. It is a day that will go down in history and that will be welcome news for the hundreds of thousands of Valencianistas who will soon see their team playing home games in one of the best stadiums in Europe. The new home for Valencia will give the club a step up in every respect," Valencia President Manuel Llorente said in a statement on the club's website. Nueva Mestalla should be completed in two years' time, sources say.

The sale of the current Mestalla and the construction of a new stadium was the paradigm of the get-rich-quick culture staged by the club president between 2004 and 2008, Juan Soler. The construction magnate was propelled to the presidency of Valencia by the former regional premier, Francisco Camps, who is currently on trial for bribery. The club's debts soared to more than 500 million euros and Soler left Valencia with the poisoned legacy of an unsold old stadium and a half-built new one.

The other bequest Soler left behind him was the need to sell Valencia's best players to balance the books. In the past two years, Spain internationals David Silva, David Villa and Juan Mata have all left Mestalla. However, coach Unai Emery has consistently guided the team to the Champions League.

In October, 2006 the Valencia Town Hall, led by the PP mayor Rita Barberá, approved the reclassification of the land on which Mestalla stands from private sporting use to residential and tertiary. Some opposition parties complained but the final legal hurdle, an administrative appeal by the Socialist Party in the region, was removed in 2010. Now, Bankia will own 73,000 square meters on the site of the old stadium that can be turned into residential buildings, and will have the right to exploit part of the 55,000 square meters set aside at the new stadium for tertiary use. "When everything is up and running, we'll start to make moves to get the Champions League final that we all want," said Barberá.