The Catalan club has announced expensive plans for the renovation of their stadium but are still negotiating with their kit manufacturer and need funds to renew Neymar's contract
The popularity of Ladislao Kubala made the old stadium at Les Corts too small and, half a century later, the appeal of Lionel Messi means that something similar is happening again... but Barcelona will need to take risks to upgrade their Camp Nou home this time around.
Back in 1961, Barca sold their Spanish striker, Luis Suarez, to Inter in order to assume the costs of building the Camp Nou. The Galician became the world's most expensive player and helped to ease the financial burden of constructing the biggest football stadium in Europe. Some 55 years later, they will hope to avoid a repeat.
Despite the size of Barca's famous home, the remodelling and reconstruction of Camp Nou are clearly necessary in order to keep the club at the forefront of the elite in world football. Just like Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, a renovated home will allow the club to bring in significant income with VIP executive boxes, something missing from the current ground.
Nobody doubts the wisdom of such a scheme. In their day, former presidents Joan Laporta and Josep Lluis Nunez both presented projects for a new Camp Nou with the very best in modern technology and all the comforts of a 21st-century stadium.
FULL STORY | Barca unveil new Camp Nou
However, there are important risks involved. It is no exaggeration to assume that the costs of €600 million (£466m) are likely to put the club under financial pressure for years to come and therefore Barca must be extremely precise when it comes to managing those expenses.
One third of the total will be financed by the sale of naming rights for the new Camp Nou, with Barca unable to use those funds for the purchase of players as they concentrate on paying off the renovation. Another third will come from a bank credit, while Barca will put up the remaining €200m (£156m) from their own pocket. But with costs of such a construction largely unpredictable and possibly rising as well, there will be little room for improvisation.
Barca won two league titles shortly after moving to Camp Nou but, after the sale of Suarez in 1961, the Catalan club did not lift the Primera Division trophy again until 1974, with Johan Cruyff on the pitch. In 20 years after the construction of Camp Nou, the Bluagrana claimed just three league titles and were also forced to part with their emerging star in Suarez, the only Spaniard to have won the Ballon d'Or and the only one in the illustrious company of Kubala and Alfredo Di Stefano in that period.
Those were different times, of course, but Barcelona are in danger of failing to meet the costs this time around as well. Yet to close a new shirt sponsorship agreement for next season, the Catalans have therefore been unable to renegotiate with manufacturers Nike for the team's various kits. And on those deals depend the renewal of Neymar's contract, on hold since the end of last season but necessary in order to keep the Brazilian - seen as the long-term successor for Messi just as Suarez had been for Kubala back in the 1960s.
That story is well known. Suarez himself admitted as much in an interview with Goal in February. He was forced to leave for Inter so that the Catalans could assume the costs of the original Camp Nou project.
Football has changed since then and so have Barcelona, with the Blaugrana one of the richest clubs in the world these days. But what hasn't changed is the need to manage funds and the new Camp Nou, although necessary, brings with it some implicit risks that cannot be ignored.
- Goal