Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona is set to name its future training stadium after former player and manager, Johan Cruyff.
The stadium will be built within the club’s training complex, Ciutat Esportiva.
In addition to Cruyff’s name on the stadium, the facility will feature a commemorative sculpture in his honour, along with a dedicated section within the FC Barcelona Museum.
The Dutchman, who won the Ballon d’Or three times in his playing career, died last year from lung cancer. Cruyff was also one of the most influential coaches in football’s history and won the European Cup with Barcelona in 1992.
Barcelona’s facilities are set to undergo a major redevelopment, which will result in the Camp Nou stadium being expanded to seat 105,000 spectators along with the addition of extra corporate hospitality facilities and upgrades to the arenas used by the club’s other sports teams.
Cruyff’s son Jordi, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and first vice-president Jordi Cardoner announced on Saturday how the club had decided to honour his memory.
The club and family shall also be formally requesting that Barcelona City Council name one of the streets or other spaces in the city after Cruyff, somewhere in the vicinity of the Camp Nou stadium.
“First of all, the future stadium in the Ciutat Esportiva training complex is to be named the ‘Estadi Johan Cruyff,’” a statement from the club said.
“Therefore, the most emblematic building in the facility where future Barca players are coached is to be named after somebody who played such a central role in fostering youth talent at the club.”
Work on the new Camp Nou is scheduled to start in the 2017-18 season and be completed during the 2021-22 campaign.
