The Light at the End of the Tunnel

As they say, good things come to those that wait, and that was one hell of a wait. Great news recently about the deal Valencia and Bankia struck to sell the Mestalla plots and continue the construction of the Nou Mestalla.

Valencia fans saw their beloved club stuck in a tunnel, and as far as they know, this tunnel could have been a mile long or hundreds of miles long. We all saw the light at the end of that tunnel, we just could not possibly know how far that light is, how long it would take us to get to the light, what the club would have to do to reach that light. All we knew is that we were moving in the right direction, and that was pretty much it. Some of us were praying for some Arab Sheikh to suddenly pop up and pick us up from this financial turmoil, others were just waiting for news on some random investor willing to buy the Mestalla land, and the rest got so caught up in the mess that they just took our situation as a matter of fact. We all knew that the ‘old’ Mestalla was bound to be sold, but we have been waiting for ages, so long that the thought started dusting in the back of our heads.

Manuel Llorente popped up lately and blew the dust off our thoughts, this time it wasn’t a rumor nor was it tabloid speculation, it was an official statement released by the official President of Valencia Club de Futbol, via the official website of Valencia Club de Futbol, I just could not believe my eyes, the day has finally come! The more I think about it the happier I become, I am so happy that I decided to state the obvious by explaining the many reasons that put me over the moon, like all other Valencianistas.

Financial Relief

The numbers haven’t been officially disclosed, but the deal that was struck last night obviously decreases Valencia’s debt significantly. Local press have it that the debts will drop from €370m to approximately €120m. And what’s as important is that the running costs and taxes that Valencia was bleeding from have already been cut down and will continue to do so with this deal in the pocket. We can comfortably say that Valencia will become much more relaxed financially, and this will hopefully reflect on the sporting project. Valencia should not be desperate to sell players for cash anymore, we should be able to keep hold of our asset players and for a change actually BUILD on our team rather than re-inventing a new team every season.

Bright Future?

Two years from now (hopefully), Valencia will have a 70,000 capacity stadium, this means a worthy team must be established for such a worthy stadium, simply because if the team is not good enough then you will not be able to fill the stadium. It will be more of a direct investment for the Valencia management, establish a bigger team with bigger stars and your attendance will increase, then your revenue will consequently increase. Break into the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid and your attendance will rocket, hence your revenue will rocket. What is even more encouraging is that Valencia today already enjoy the sporting infrastructure with a decent squad full of youth and promise.

Nou Mestalla

Being a die hard Valencia fan and an architect myself, the idea of Los Che playing in such a state-of-the-art stadium is simply orgasmic. A dream I had ever since I saw the photos and models of the stadium, my dream eventually evolved into a nightmare for years, and now it looks like my initial dream will become a reality. This monument will be the pride of every Valencia fan, and hopefully a curse for every visiting team facing the bats.

Gratitude

We must not forget to give our thanks to the people that made this dream come true. First and foremost, gratitude to Manuel Llorente, the hero that fixed what his scum predecessors got us into. A thank you also goes to Valencia’s wise and responsible management as a whole, it has been making crucial and critical decisions to get us where we are today.

Also, and no matter what you think of Unai Emery, he deserves the credit for keeping Valencia up there despite all the hardships he has faced, working against the tides, and maintaining the financial income we desperately needed to stay afloat in the years that the club was walking on thin ice, thanks Unai. A huge thank you goes to our loyal stars that were sold for hard cash, sold to keep Valencia breathing. If it weren’t for the world-class displays, professionalism, and high market value of Villa, Silva, Mata, and Albiol, God knows where Valencia would be today. None of these players pulled a ‘Tevez’ or an ‘Adebayor’, they never forced out, they maintained loyalty to their beloved club till the very last minute, until the right price came for their club to agree on.