Valencia is a beautiful city by all accounts but I was only there once for all of two hours in July 2009. Upon arriving at the city’s Manises Airport I was asked whether I wanted to visit the cathedral or the Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciències (The City of Arts and Sciences) in the short time I had in the city.
Museums and monuments are all well and good, but one location was more pressing given the circumstances.
The Mestalla stadium was a bit of an odd place that afternoon. Virtually empty, it was a good opportunity to explore the dressing rooms, subs bench, trophy room and press room without being disturbed.
But it was the dressing room that was the most poignant part of the 90-year old ground.
Sitting in David Villa’s spot, gazing with wonder at the clothes pegs latched into the white brick walls under name tags such as David Silva and Juan Mata, deep down it was clear that those star names would be departing sooner rather than later.
David Villa's seat in the dressing room in July 2009
The financial plight of the club and the uncertain future of the stadium was the most pressing reason for choosing the Mestalla over the other attractions in the city.
The whole Valencia region has suffered since the recession started but the football club’s problems were tightly woven in the narrative.
Los Che’s debts topped €300 million back in 2010 and one of the main reasons was the new stadium, known as the Nou Mestalla.
Construction work on the 75,000 seater stand began in 2007 but with the financial crisis taking hold before it could be completed, it lies partly built and half abandoned.
With a half-built stadium that they cannot move into and unable to sell the land around the Mestalla, they were literally stuck between a rock and a hard place with debts spiralling past the €500 million mark despite the sales of star players. That tale has been built upon before.
A little hope arrived in 2011 when Spanish banking group Bankia agreed to help finance the completion of Nou Mestalla but this agreement was terminated last year.
However, the situation is more complicated as Bankia now run the club. But away from matters in the boardroom, Valencia missed out on the Top Four in La Liga in 2012/13 which means they cannot access the riches of Europe’s premier club competition as they have done in the past season which saw them reach the knock-out stages.
But if you look at their squad there are not many assets that they could sell for €40 million (Villa), €27.5 million (Mata), €33 million (Silva) and €14 million (Jordi Alba).
Only Spain striker Roberto Soldado could be valued at over €20 million as the squad has been moulded into one with younger stars such as Sergio Canales (who has been struck down with injury) and Dani Parejo, and solid stars which glitter less brightly than their forebears.
That’s one of the sad facts that occur when a financial slide begins at a club. At first you can make a lot of money by selling star players like David Villa. But when those stars are replaced by less valuable assets, less cash can be gleaned when they in turn are sold as finances spiral out of control.
Undoubtedly sales will have to be made but they are only likely to be a drop in an ocean worth of debts valued at €350 million.
New club president Amadeo Salvo denied that Soldado would be sold but when you think of the debt situation coupled with the lack of Champions League football, something has to give.
So far the only player that has been sold is Argentine midfielder Tino Costa for €7 million, a significant fee given the lack of impact he has had at the squad.
Thus selling off a few fringe players of his ilk could stave off issues temporarily but that makes a return to the Champions League for 2014/15 a must, otherwise the slide towards mediocrity and ultimately oblivion will become inevitable.
