Barcelona announced on Monday that they had secured 1.45 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in funding for a redevelopment plan and that work on the Camp Nou stadium would begin on June 1.

The club said in a statement that the funds came from deals with 20 investors who would be paid back over five to 24 years. Barcelona stated that once the work was completed, they would begin repaying the loans.

The ‘Espai Barca’ plan also includes spending on other club facilities in addition to the football stadium.

It includes 420 million euros for the Palau Blaugrana, which houses the club’s basketball and handball teams, and 20 million euros for the Johan Cruyff stadium, which houses the men’s reserve and women’s football teams.

The club said they expected the work on the Camp Nou to be completed by 2026. The men’s first team will play at the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic before returning in the 2024-25 season to Camp Nou not yet at full capacity.

Barcelona are emulating their main Spanish rivals Real Madrid who began the latest renovation of their Bernabeu Stadium in 2019.

The club is emerging from a financial hole which led to losses of 481 million euros in 2020/21 which led to the departure of the club’s all-time leading scorer Lionel Messi.

Last summer the club raised around 750 million euros by selling 25 per cent of its La Liga television rights for the next 25 years and 49 per cent of its Barca Studios.