Barcelona fans are forgiven if they feel teary-eyed after stunning footage emerged of their Nou Camp home being torn down into rubble.
The Spanish champions are pushing ahead with speed as part of their bold redevelopment plans, with cranes seen tearing down the stands’ structures, just six weeks after their final match.
Barcelona’s £1.25billion refurbishment, which has had 250 workers on site in recent weeks with more expected soon, is ongoing with the hope it is ready to be opened in full for the 2025-26 season.
But footage of stands being reduced to rubble left many fans with mixed emotions.
One fan tweeted that it made him ‘tear up’, while another football fan wrote: ‘How to ruin one of the most iconic stadiums.’
The club announced in July 2022 that they would leave their historic ground and play the 2023-24 campaign at the Olympic Stadium amid the construction work.
The Olympic Stadium – which hosted the 1992 Summer Games – is only a short hop across the city, so, it shouldn’t cause too many issues for Xavi’s squad.
But nonetheless, the speed of the destruction is a sign that Barcelona are in no mood to wait around as they push on into a bold new era, with the iconic arena set to see its capacity increase from 99,354 seats to 105,000.
The renovation will include a roof being added and the stadium’s name being officially changed to the ‘Spotify Nou Camp’ as part of their sponsorship with the music streaming platform.
Club president Joan Laporta recently donned a hard hat to visit the site himself, and left thrilled at the work so far.
He said, as per Spanish media: ‘The first sensation it generates is nostalgia.
‘But, after walking around and seeing the pace of the works, which are going well, it gives you the feeling of hope and joy because we are fulfilling a collective dream of the people of Barcelona.’
Barcelona’s finances have been under scrutiny for years now, with the club hurt more than anyone else by the halting of football tourism during the Covid pandemic.
Eager to recoup losses during the pandemic, Barcelona are exploring a multitude of ways to generate more income.
As a result, they are reportedly gearing up to launch a new line of exclusive jewellery that will see the club create their own diamonds using the grass from the Nou Camp pitch.
The club is extraordinarily planning to use the grass from last season’s pitch to sustainably create the range of sparkling gems in a carbonisation process that will produce the authentic diamonds in just one week.
The collection of jewellery is being called the Etern Spotify Nou Camp 1957, a nod to when the enormous stadium was first built.
It has been claimed they are planning to manufacture pins, bracelets, cufflinks, rings, necklaces, shields and pins utilising the diamonds, with 1957 jewels from the 7,000 square-metre pitch.
Fifty-seven one carat diamonds are set to be cut, with the price of one carat set to knock bidders back just over £12,000. The club are also predicting to net around £25million each year from the process.
The gems are no doubt set to be in high demand considering the historical value and uniqueness of the items.
It comes as last month they agreed a sponsorship deal with Phillips that could help them free up some more funds to make new signings in the summer transfer window.