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What’s the story?
Barcelona's Camp Nou will be known as Nou Camp Grifols from next season according to reports in The Sun. The Catalan side have sold their stadium's naming rights for a whopping €340 million to Grifols according to the report.
Catalunya Radio have also reported the same but there has been no official word from the Spanish side yet. They are hoping to complete the deal and make it official by New Year.
In case you didn’t know...
Grifols is a pharmaceutical company and have reportedly won the right to rename Barcelona's stadium. The Catalan side need €640 million to renovate the 99,000+ capacity stadium and were looking to raise funds for it.
They have agreed on loans worth €300 million but were looking to get the rest by selling the naming rights. They have successfully achieved their goals as €340 million was exactly what they were looking for!
The heart of the matter
Apart from the Camp Nou renovation, Barcelona also need funds to get Leo Messi to sign his new contract. The Argentine is in line to get a massive €90 million signing on bonus and the club are dragging the contract talks to get time to arrange the funds.
Messi's contract expires at the end of this season and has been linked with a move away. The forward has been linked with Manchester City who are coached by Messi's favourite manager, Pep Guardiola!
Video
This is what Barcelona's new stadium will look like after renovation:
Author’s Take
It's amazing that Barcelona have managed to convince the sponsors to keep 'Nou Camp' in the new name. It's an amazing gesture by Grifols too to have accepted it as they know the history behind the name and how much it means to the club and its fans...
