Joan Laporta: “We will build the best stadium in the world, at the level of the best club in the world”
BARCELONA, 29 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The new Spotify Camp Nou is already underway with the introduction of the first stone, by the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, in the bowels of the current Blaugrana stronghold, whose complete remodeling works will begin shortly, in November 2024, return to the new house, which will be the “best stadium in the world” according to its president.
The symbolic laying of the first stone of the new Spotify Camp Nou took place this Friday on the pitch of the Blaugrana stadium, at the Gol Sud goal, and with it the green light was symbolically given to the remodeling works, which begin this week .
With the investors of the works of the new Spotify Camp Nou and sponsors of FC Barcelona, in addition to players from the different teams of the club, the club showed its chest after seeing off the current stadium this Sunday with a 3-0 defeat of Mallorca, and introduced under the ‘green’ a transparent box (metaphorically that ‘first stone’ with various objects inside.
The president, Joan Laporta, introduced the flags of Barça and the ‘Senyera’ of Catalonia. “This Camp Nou Spotify is already past. It is full of feeling, glorious moments, unforgettable football. The most important thing is that the new Camp Nou Spotify will be, from now on, the future. A great stadium in keeping with our club” , he assured before giving the lever to bury that box. “The new Spotify Camp Nou will be the safest, most comfortable, commercial and most modern stadium in the world. We will build the best stadium in the world, at the level of the best club in the world,” he reiterated.
“These 123 years could be explained in many ways. One of them would be to define the stadiums where we have played, from an itinerant beginning to Les Corts, nearby, and this wonderful stadium that opened in 1957. The new Spotify Camp Nou It will be making a collective dream of Barcelona come true. It will be a legacy for sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters”, he valued.
“First it must go through the construction process that is now beginning. A process that we must live with the utmost enthusiasm, because we will be here again and we will come back stronger than ever. We want it to continue being the scene of glorious nights coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the club. We will return at the end of 2024, with a Spotify Camp Nou already suitable to be a stadium according to the needs of members, subscribers and fans”.
In the box at the first stone there are also several newspapers from the last game, introduced by Juan Manuel Asensi (president of the Barça Players Association), as well as a club shirt introduced by the first team soccer coach, Xavi Hernández, who said goodbye yesterday of the current feud with victory over Mallorca.
“It was a round night, saying goodbye to the Camp Nou that brings us so many memories, and to the captains, and with victory. The people enjoyed it, which is the important thing,” said Xavi, who suffered more in the arena from the bench than as a player . “You always suffer at Can Barça but it is incomparable, on the bench you suffer a lot. Also as a fan and player. But the Catalans, if we don’t suffer, we don’t enjoy. And on the bench you suffer a lot”, he contributed.
The still captain Sergio Busquets, who played his last game on Sunday before leaving the entity on June 30, introduced the captain’s armband. “It is a privilege and an honor to be the captain of the club of your heart. I have had a very special bond with Barça. I have been lucky to go through all the football ranks, also as a member. I had captains who were an example, by values and behavior, and it has been a great luck to be captain”, he opened up, before assuring that he will stay, of all the games played in the stadium, with the 5-0 win against Real Madrid in LaLiga and the comeback against PSG (6 -1) in the ‘Champions’.
For her part, former Barça Femení player Melanie Serrano, who has played the most games with the women’s team, introduced a ball. “It was a dream to play at the Spotify Camp Nou, it was a source of pride and it will always be in my memory. It is a spectacle to see the women’s team, the players are very grateful. I scored a great goal here, and against Espanyol”, she recalled. Also a player from the youth academy, from La Masia (Jana Muro and Guiu Xuclà) put some football boots in that box, that first stone, with which they say see you soon to the Spotify Camp Nou, that it will return totally reformed in November 2024.