Lionel Messi has officially acquired Spanish second division club Club Deportivo Eldense, with the club confirming the completion of the deal on Thursday, October 1. The acquisition follows earlier reports that Messi had signed a preliminary agreement to take ownership of the team. In a statement, the club said, “Club Deportivo Eldena officially announces the acquisition of the club by Leo Messi. This marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the club’s more than 100-year history.” The club added that the arrival of one of the most important figures in the history of the sport as owner of CD Eldense in Spanish professional football marks the beginning of a long-term project aimed at advancing the club’s sporting, institutional and social development.
Eldense is currently owned by Colombian investment group Grupo TH, which also has clubs in Colombia and Switzerland. The deal is still awaiting approval from Spain’s National Sports Council. Eldense is the second club in Spain that Messi has owned, following the purchase of Cornellà, a fifth-division team in Barcelona, earlier this year. This is the first time Messi has invested in a professional club, as Cornellà is still semi-professional. With three divisions between the two teams, there is little chance of any problems with the ownership of the two clubs in the near future.
Eldense was founded in 1921. For most of its history, the club has been outside the top two divisions of Spanish football. In 2023, they were promoted to the second division for the first time since 1964. They were later relegated in 2025 to the third division. The club plays its home matches at the 5,776-seat Nuevo Pepico Amat stadium in the city of Eldense. Messi’s acquisition of the club represents a significant step in his post-playing career and his growing involvement in football ownership, following his earlier investment in Cornellà. The deal, once approved by the National Sports Council, will place one of the world’s most famous footballers at the helm of a historic Spanish club with more than a century of history, and it is expected to bring new attention and resources to Eldense as it seeks to advance both on and off the field.
