The Nou Mestalla, the potential future home of La Liga club Valencia CF, is one of the longest ongoing yet ambitious stadium construction projects in world football.
Construction began, remarkably, way back in 2007, but a series of delays since – mainly caused by financial concerns and issues – means the Nou Mestalla remains half-built. It is now claimed that Nou Mestalla will finally be completed by 2025.
What's the back story, though? And can these new claims be believed? Football Ground Guide reviews the latest here…
Nou Mestalla plans and timeline
The construction of the Nou Mestalla began in 2007 when Valencia CF reached the pinnacle of their history by winning several trophies, including two La Liga titles under Rafael Benitez.
The plan to capitalise on the team's success on the field and to build a new state-of-the-art 80,000 seater stadium was one that many saw as a no-brainer at the time, and it was intended that the club would continue to compete with clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, whilst also competing against Europe's elite in the Champions League.
All look well under the ownership of former club president, Juan Soler, who after their UEFA Cup triumph in 2004, announced two years later, details on a new stadium to be built for a club very much on the up.
Work began on the stadium, but within two years, it was stopped due to a lack of funds, which left a half-built stadium, with no club playing in it. Since then, it has lain there, vacated. Under the ownership of Peter Lim, it is no nearer to completion, with the club struggling on and off the field.
Valencia’s Nou Mestalla stadium has been standing half-built for the past 15 years.
Now, with Spain co-hosting World Cup 2030, construction looks set to restart — but some have major doubts over what the project means for the club’s future.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 2, 2024
A plan that once entailed Nou Mestalla to be built by 2010 at the latest, with it scheduled to host the Champions League final in 2011, has now become a farce, leaving Valencia CF with ownership of one-and-a-half stadia and continuing to play at the current Mestalla.
Will Valencia ever move into Nou Mestalla?
There was a glimmer of hope that reconstruction would continue in October 2022, when the club released plans for the project that started back in 2007, in June 2022.
However, no progress has been made and Nou Mestalla still stands half-built. There have been whispers that it will be built and finished by 2025, but with past plans never coming to fruition, fans have been sceptical as to whether the stadium will ever be finished.
Valencia await building licence from council
While it is clear that progress has been slow on the Nou Mestalla project, it is just as apparent that the club are as desperate as ever to finally get construction back underway. In May 2024, reports emerged suggesting that Valencia are still waiting for the City Council to grant them the building licence they need to start construction on the site once more.
As well as the aforementioned licence, it is also believed that the club are also waiting to receive approval for their urban planning documents, which include developments on the proposed new facility and the current Mestalla.
A breakthrough for Nou Mestalla project
Once this happens, then there appear to be very few obstacles left for Valencia to overcome, especially considering that they have now completed the sale of the land on the site of the new stadium, in a deal believed to be worth around €40 million.
This is a huge boost for the club's plans to soon begin construction on the Nou Mestalla.
The sale will see a portion of the land attached to the site sold to Área Desarrollo, a Spanish property development company. Reports suggest that numerous structures will be built on the land, including office blocks and a hotel, to increase the number of people visiting the ground.
While this is a massive step forward for the Nou Mestalla project, Valencia have reiterated that “The agreement is subject to the approval of the urban planning authorities and [the granting] of licenses necessary for the development of both the stadium and the tertiary buildings planned by the buyer.”
Nou Mestalla stadium updates
After many years of little to no progress on the construction of Nou Mestalla, a new agreement on the expected completion date has emerged.
December 2024: Nou Mestalla construction costs rise above €300
Earlier in October, the club presented an executive report to the City Council of Valencia, detailing among other things, cost estimations and a new deadline for completing Nou Mestalla.
In the more than 4,000-page report, the total cost of constructing the new Valencia stadium has now exceeded €300 million. It details the price of every material that will be used in completing the stadium. Of the colossal amount, €139.7 million, up from an initial €119 million will be needed to complete the stadium. Other items factored in the new estimates include VAT, overheads, industrial profits and land cost.
It is also reported that Nou Mestalla will have one of the most technologically advanced stadium roofs stretching across the massive structure.
With all the costs taken care of, the documentation presented to the city council states that the new proposed date for completing the stadium is 2027. With that, the club plans to resume construction work at the venue in January 2025.
Before the construction works resume, a report detailing fan experience is expected to be presented by the club in December 2024, including an external audit to ensure the new budget is in line with current market factors such as inflation.
Financial challenges that have bedevilled the club have worsened in recent years to the extent that their performance on the pitch has equally been worrying. They are currently one of the worst-performing teams in LaLiga, sitting second-last on the LaLiga table after 17 games in the 2024/25 season. This may likely harm the expected investment into the Nou Mestalla project.
Nou Mestalla remains a ghost ground 15 years later
More than 15 years since the ambitious Nou Mestalla project was launched, the iconic stadium remains a ghost ground. While residents of the city are unbothered as they go about their daily business, the eerie appearance of the steel structure in the middle of a busy city evokes bitter-sweet memories.
At the time when Nou Mestalla was launched, Valencia was enjoying remarkable success on the pitch and Nou Mestalla was to reflect the club's ambition, especially when it comes to competing with clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Spain are set to co-host the 2023 FIFA World Cup, something that could awaken the construction of Nou Mestalla. With a seating capacity of 80,000, no doubt the New Valencia Stadium would become one of the biggest stadiums in World Football.
However, Valencia are currently struggling, not only financially but also on the pitch. In the 2024/24 season, Los Ches are chasing the top 6. They sit eighth after 28 games, so the next 10 matches will be decisive for Ruben Baraja as he guides Valencia back to the European stage.
What will the new Valencia stadium be like?
Nou Mestalla itself was initially supposed to be an 80,000 seater, ‘luxurious' and ‘state-of-the-art' stadium built to compete with the best clubs and stadia in Europe.
However, with plans stalling, lack of funds and no finish date confirmed, the future capacity has been slashed to nearly half of that, with 49,000 being the maximum number of spectators able to watch a game on match day.
As said previously, the completion date is said to be sometime in 2025, but there has been no confirmed exact date for this, which has led many fans to believe it will be much further into the future before they see their club move from their current home of the Mestalla.
Valencia CF: The history of the Mestalla
The Estadio Mestalla, as it was known when it was first used back on the 20th May 1923, in a match played between its occupiers, Valencia CF and its first away team, Levante.
The stadium at the time had a capacity of 17,000, with the capacity increased four years later to 25,000. It was again renovated in the 1950s to increase its capacity to 60,000. It has since decreased its capacity to 49,430, making it the eighth-largest stadium in Spain in modern times.
It was not always named the Mestalla, however, and in 1969, the name changed to that of Estadio Luis Casanova, the club's president at the time, Luis Casanova Giner.
In 1994, Casanova requested that the name be reverted to the Mestalla as he felt overwhelmed by the honour of having the stadium named after him.
The stadium's name, the Mestalla, comes from the historic canal of Mestalla. The canal posed an obstacle for fans who wanted to gain entry to the south stand, jumping over the Mestalla Canal to get to the ground.
The stadium's North Stand is famous for having a steep section for fans who brave it to watch their club play weekly.
The stadium has played host to World Cup matches, when Spain held the tournament back in 1982, hosting the Spanish national team's three group games versus, Honduras, Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, a game they lost 1-0, thanks to a goal from Gerry Armstrong.
It is said to be one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.