Barcelona are hoping to be back at Camp Nou with a capacity of 60,000 before the end of the year, but there are fresh doubts over the feasibility of them doing so.
The Blaugrana had been hoping for a comeback in mid-November, as work continued on the third tier, allowing them to return home for the celebration of their 125th anniversary. That has been pushed back though, and internally they are now looking at a return in mid-December, and potentially the final La Liga game of the calendar year before the Christmas break.
Relevo claim that this now looks ‘difficult’ according to their sources, and they predict that it is likely to be 2025 before they are able to head back down Montjuic. The club have publicly denied these claims, and President Joan Laporta said last week that all was on schedule. Recently Barcelona applied for extra permits to allow them to continue work on the stadium between 08:00 and midnight, to speed up the work in April, and fresh permits may be considered for May.
While Barcelona will be missing out on money while they are at the smaller and less accessible Montjuic rather than even a half-built Camp Nou, contractors Limak are liable to a fine of €1m per day of delay, claims the same source. This does increase the danger that the work is rushed.