Lionel Messi Nears Ownership of Eldense in Spanish Football
Lionel Messi is closing in on a new role in Spanish football – not with the ball at his feet, but with a club in his hands.
According to Spanish daily Marca, the Argentine has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Eldense, a side newly promoted to the Segunda División. If the deal is completed, Messi would take full control of the club’s shares, with no third-party investors involved.
This would be his second step into Spanish club ownership in a matter of months. Earlier this year, he moved into the lower tiers by acquiring Cornellà, a Catalan third-division team. Eldense would push him directly into the professional leagues, anchoring his business footprint in the same country where he built his legend on the pitch.
A project close to home
The choice of Eldense is no coincidence. The club is based in Elda, in the province of Alicante, a region not far from Catalonia, where Messi plans to settle once he finishes his playing career at Inter Miami. The idea behind the move is described as straightforward: channel his legacy and wealth back into the game itself.
If all goes to plan, the agreement should be wrapped up in the coming days. The final legal and contractual details still need to be completed, including financial due diligence. The Spanish National Sports Council must also sign off before the takeover can be made official.
Eldense has already changed hands once in the modern era. In October 2015, an international investment group with Colombian roots, led by businessman Juan Carlos Trujillo, bought the club from Pascual Pérez. More recently, rumours had linked Argentine investor Ricardo Beni with a possible 12 million euro takeover. Those whispers have now been drowned out by one name: Messi.
A struggling team, a looming decision
While the boardroom prepares for upheaval, the pitch tells a bleaker story. Eldense have endured a miserable start to life in the second division, collecting only two points from their first four league matches.
The poor run has already claimed a victim. Coach Claudio Barragán was sacked last Monday, becoming the first managerial casualty of the Segunda División season. The club has yet to appoint his replacement, leaving a vacuum on the touchline just as the ownership picture shifts.
If Messi’s deal goes through, he will inherit a club in transition: unstable results, no head coach, but a rare chance to reshape a project from top to bottom. For the first time in Spain, he would not only inspire a dressing room. He would own it.
