Hardly any money, but clear visions: Barça will leave the historic Camp Nou from 2023

High debts, athletically defeated, the silverware sold: FC Barcelona's present is dreary.

Hardly any money, but clear visions: Barça will leave the historic Camp Nou from 2023

High debts, athletically defeated, the silverware sold: FC Barcelona's present is dreary. But that doesn't stop the Catalans from dreaming of a future "in the best stadium in the world, in the best city in the world, in the best country in the world". For that they have to move out first.

FC Barcelona has confirmed the move of the team around national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen next summer. The Spanish football club announced that it had finally been agreed with the city administration of the Catalan metropolis that the home games of the 2023/24 season would take place in the Olympic Stadium Lluís Companys.

The relocation of the home games is necessary because the Camp Nou stadium, which is in dire need of renovation, will undergo extensive modernization from this summer. The Olympic Stadium only holds around 55,000 spectators. It was built for the 1929 World's Fair and was the central venue for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Barça expect the conversion to take a good three years and be completed during the 2025/26 season. Then you will have "the best stadium in the world, in the best city in the world, in the best country in the world," said club president Joan Laporta at the end of April. At a general meeting in December, renovation spending of up to 1.5 billion euros had been approved, regardless of the horrendous club debt of 1.35 billion euros. The financing of the stadium renovation through loans is fully secured, said Laporta.

Thanks to the "Espai Barça" ("Barça Square") project, the renovation of the Camp Nou and the entire surrounding club complex, including the Palau Blaugrana sports hall, the club wants to earn an additional 200 million euros a year in the future. The Catalans' stadium will be called Spotify Camp Nou after signing a "strategic partnership" agreement with music streaming leader Spotify.