Manchester United recently announced plans to build a new 100,000-seater stadium – which Sir Jim Ratcliffe has promised to be the ‘world’s greatest’ – but there’s a fear that the Glazer family could pull the rug from under the club’s feet at any moment.
In many ways, parallels can be drawn between the Americans’ ownership of United and the ‘destruction’ of Valencia Club de Fútbol by Peter Lim. In 2014, the Singaporean billionaire became the majority shareholder at the Mestalla Stadium, effectively saving the club from bankruptcy after years of mismanagement.
Lim cleared the Spanish giants' debt and set aside millions to finally complete the construction of a new stadium – which had been dormant since work was halted in 2009. Valencia first announced plans for the ’Nou Mestalla’ towards the end of 2006 before building work began the following year.
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"The first project, the original one, which was like a premium design with a cover made of aluminium and steel, it had plenty of charisma," said Paco Polit, speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News. "Obviously things have changed since then and the current project has zero relation whatsoever to what we saw back in the day."
By February 2009, the the initial concrete structure had been completed, but Valencia faced financial problems so the project was shelved. Los Che was in incredible debt, which was later cleared by Lim upon his arrival as majority shareholder.
At first, it seemed as if the Singaporean would breathe new life into Valencia and lead the club back to its former glory. Six-time La Liga champions. Eight-time Cope Del Rey winners. European giants.
"Back in the day, it was seen as a logical step forward because in 2004 Valencia were the champions of La Liga, champions of the UEFA Cup," added Polit, who's the director of 'ESPORTBASE Radio' and Valencian Region Delegate for LaLiga Lowdown.
"They were named the best team in the world and back in the day Mestallas seemed to not be enough to hold as many fans which wanted to attend the games. Back then, we were talking about 45,000 people almost every single match day inside the ground.
"There was an actual [waiting] list of fans wanting to become season ticket holders. Nowadays that's no longer the case. Back in the day, Valencia were like a top-tier side, had plenty of world-class players."
Valencia are now 16th in the Spanish top-flight, and they're just a handful of points from the relegation zone. Polit added: "When the first project was made public, everyone was super excited. But, nowadays, when things have slightly started to once again move, most fans are not really impressed because of the design and especially because of the current situation, the current predicament where the team is placed."
Nevertheless, delays continued throughout the 2010s before work on the new stadium was put on hold completely. In the meantime, the Mestalla Stadium, where Valencia still play since its erection in May 1923, showed its age, with legal agreements – that pre-date Lim's arrival – blocking much-needed redevelopment.
Essentially, the Mestalla Stadium could do with a fresh lick of paint – just like Old Trafford in some respects. Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, Polit explained exactly why Valencia higher-ups first wanted to build a new stadium.
"In the 90s, mid 90s, I'm talking about 1996 when Paco Roig was the president, works were made in line of making the ground bigger," said the Spanish football expert. "If you notice the way that the ground is built, it's like three rings on top of each other with three different stands being built on top of each other.
"Back in the day, there were only two. You had two and you had the main stand where you have the whole cover. The only part of the ground which is covered. So, you had two big rings with stands surrounding the stadium.
"In 1996 works underwent, in order to build a third ring, but one of the sections was built under illegal permits – it overpassed the limits of where the ground could be built and where the stands could be built upwards and it went into the part where the street is.
"You have like two big long avenues in one of the sides of the ground. The main stand, where you go inside the other one and those two surround the ground and both sides. The stands went into [the street], and the neighbours living there actually sued Valencia.
"They took legal action, and that's why the top corner is missing and without seats and without people in there because it's actually illegal. Back in the day, the trial happened and the judge said that such a stand had to be demolished and had to be torn apart, and that was one of the reasons for actually Valencia making, or thinking about making the move to the new ground.
"Because they had like an incomplete ground – well actually it was completed but it was incomplete because they couldn’t build like a full cover to the ground because a big section of the stand in that area had to be torn down. So, what they decided was to freeze the execution of the law, or what the judge said, because they arrive to a truce with the neighbours.
"They told them, ‘You guys wait five, six years, and we kickstart the process to build the new ground and once the new ground is built, this whole ground will be torn down, torn apart, and you won't have to, you know, have to endure the kind of issues that the stand was generating’.
"They reached an agreement, but the agreement happened in the last year of the 20th century. Six years later, the new ground project was shown publicly. 25 years later, no action has been taken in that sense, and actually, the last report that we have is that the judge's trial sentence has expired.
"So, Valencia no longer needs to tear down that stand, because obviously, if the neighbours once again take legal action, yet another trial should happen and obviously it's potentially righteous for them to to once again win, but they are not going to do so, it's like some sort of cold war between the parties.
"But the issue is that one of the first reasons for Valencia thinking about moving to a new home was made back in the day, which was legal, which was properly done, and which was one of the prompts for them to explore further options."
While Valencia was starved of investment and slowly fell down the Spanish top flight, the sorry state of the Mestalla Stadium scared Lim off. Well, it was either the rust or sea of bright yellow 'Lim go home' signs in protest of his ownership that fans hold up during every home game.
The Singaporean billionaire hasn't watched Valencia play, in person, since December 2019, when they held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw. Sound familiar, United fans? When was the last time the Glazers watched the Red Devils at Old Trafford?
Earlier this year, Valencia announced that construction work on the Nou Mestalla had restarted after 16 years. The Spanish sleeping giants are aiming to have the stadium, which is expected to hold more than 70,000 fans, ready ahead of the 2027/28 season.
Kiat Lim, the son of the owner, recently visited the ’Nou Mestalla’. Valencia are still working with the same contractor that they first agreed a deal with back in 2007, so there are fears that his appearance was just a ’big elaborate prank’.
Kiat Lim visited construction site of Nou Mestalla ️
The new president of Valencia CF takes in the site of the new stadium, which will open in 2027.
— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) March 5, 2025
"I actually believe Peter Lim has zero intention of finishing the ground," said Polit. "My current theory, and many people think the same way, is that you only have to check out the current works ongoing, like the squad working there is like two people.
"Every single day, you have like two workers there moving around bricks and mortar, but the level of commitment in order to finish the ground, you are not seeing like swarms of 100, 200 workers, big cranes and so on. No.
"There was a deadline which was January 10th, where Valencia had to kickstart the works if they wanted to enjoy an agreement with the city’s town hall – an agreement which is translated to money, ultimately. It's like benefits coming from the permits and so on.
"The only reason for the works to have being reignited is that Valencia really needed the money or those benefits and I think that everything has been a very elaborate facade in order to make people believe that the ground is going to be finished and that increases obviously the value of the assets."
Polit added: "In this case, not the ground, but the club as a whole, because the real intention of Peter Lim is selling Valencia as a whole and it's easier for him to shop around the cub and get more money for his shares if there’s the promise of the ground being finished instead of having the whole skeleton of the ground being there untouched, remaining untouched for 16 years.
"So, I think this is unfortunately a big elaborate prank on most of the fans because the real intentions of Peter Lim aren't finishing the ground. When the Nou Mestalla is finished, if it's finished, at some point in the future, Peter Lim will be long gone from here.
"That is what everyone is thinking in the last few months. Unfortunately, that means that the level of uncertainty surrounding the new ground is going to remain for quite a while. Also, Valencia have been unfortunate enough to have to endure Peter Lim for the last 11 years here, and that has also had an impact, a negative, very negative impact, on the city as a whole."
Valencia want the ’Nou Mestalla’ to be a part of the Spanish Football Federation's bid for the 2030 World Cup, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Polit added: "Valencia hasn't been included in the portfolio for the 2030 World Cup, which is going to take place in Spain.
"Nowadays, Valencia is out of the race. It's true that the government and the Valencian authorities have been scrambling around trying to look for a back door in order to once again get Valencia in the race.
"But, in order to do that, the Nou Mestalla has to be finished, so I think that if the new ground is to be completed at some point in the next five years, it would be mainly for the will and for the neediness of both the city and the Spanish football federation, rather than Peter Lim being really keen on finishing it.
"The real need lies within both the city and the football club, but not the business. In this case, the largest shareholder is only here to take advantage of the whole situation, to cash out as soon as possible to make a huge profit on his investment after having destroyed the assets and having driven Valencia to the ground."
In the same way that many United fans disapprove of the Glazer family, Valencia supporters share a similar disdain for Lim. Speaking of the Singaporean billionaire, Polit said: "He’s going to leave the city and the club laughing straight to the bank. Let's see the state in which Valencia are left, potentially in shambles, once Peter Lim is gone from here."
The Spanish football expert added: "They had a kind of gravitas surrounding them and in the last 20 years, especially in the last 10 years, the management in this case, the larger shareholder of Peter Lim has absolutely destroyed any kind of worthy issues surrounding the club.
"Any kind of welfare for the fans and nowadays things are in such a place that most Valencia fans are not actually that keen on moving..."
A brand new shiny stadium looks good on paper, but is it really worth it? At the cost of demolishing Old Trafford? A heritage site. A shrine. One of the most famous sports grounds in the world. Gone, just like that. How can you trust those who let Old Trafford rot away build a new stadium?
It's a no from me. I went to the Mestalla Stadium not too long ago. I saw Atletico Madrid storm past Valencia in their own backyard. It's one of the greatest stadiums in Europe. Now, imagine if all its history, culture and tradition amounted to a pile of rubble.
Now imagine if that were Old Trafford... What a disaster.
