Lionel Messi is on the verge of buying his second Spanish football club in less than six months. Multiple reports out of Spain indicate he's agreed in principle to acquire CD Eldense, a Segunda División side based in Elda, a provincial town of about 55,000 people in Alicante.
The deal would see Messi take over all shares held by Colombian investment group TH Soluciones Group S.A.S., which took control of the club in October 2025. An announcement is expected within days, pending approval from Spain's High Council for Sports (CSD).
A portfolio taking shape
This is the second Spanish club acquisition in quick succession. Messi picked up fifth-tier UE Cornella on April 16, and now he's moving a division into the professional pyramid with Eldense. Add to that the stake he's set to receive in Inter Miami once his playing contract expires, and a clear pattern emerges — Messi isn't just thinking about his next game, he's building infrastructure.
Owning clubs at different levels of the Spanish football system isn't a random collection. It's the kind of multi-club model that shrewd operators have used to create development pipelines. Whether that's the explicit plan here isn't confirmed, but buying at the fifth tier and the second tier simultaneously doesn't look like coincidence.
Eldense's timing couldn't be worse — or more interesting
The club he's buying is, right now, a mess. Eldense sacked manager Claudio Barragan on Sunday after collecting just two points from their opening four Segunda División matches. They sit third from bottom. Whoever takes the dugout next will be doing so under the scrutiny of one of the most famous names in football's ownership box.
Eldense have bounced around Spain's lower divisions for most of their history, only recently establishing themselves at the second tier — playing there in three of the past four seasons. That tenuous foothold becomes even more fragile with a managerial vacancy and a near-empty points tally this early in the campaign. Their relegation odds are already worth watching closely, and new ownership won't change results on the pitch overnight.
Messi, who recently stepped back from international duty with Argentina, isn't signing anyone. He's signing contracts of a different kind. The football world just got a little more curious about what he's actually building.
