Messi set to buy Spanish club Eldense

Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami, has made a preliminary agreement to buy Spanish second-tier club Eldense.

This deal still needs to pass due diligence and get the green light from Spain’s National Sports Council. ESPN shared this news on Tuesday, quoting a source.

Eldense is owned by a Colombian investment group called Grupo TH, which also runs clubs in Colombia and Switzerland.

If the deal goes through, Eldense will be the second Spanish club owned by Messi. According to PUNCH Online, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner bought Spanish club Cornella in April 2026.

Cornella is a fifth-tier club based in Barcelona. It has produced well-known players like Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and Messi’s old Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba.

Eldense would mark Messi’s first investment in a professional club in Spain, as Cornella is still a semi-professional team. At 39 years old, Messi is also partially involved with Uruguayan club Deportivo LSM alongside his Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez.

Eldense and Cornella are three divisions apart, so owning both clubs shouldn't be a problem for now. But the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) might not allow both teams to play in the same division if Messi becomes the main owner of both.

Eldense was founded in 1921 and has spent most of its history outside Spain’s top two divisions. The club made it back to the second tier in 2023 for the first time since 1964 but was relegated in 2025. They returned to this division again this summer.

So far this season, Eldense has lost all four of their matches. This poor performance led to the firing of coach Claudio Barragán earlier this week. Currently, the club does not have a manager.

Eldense plays their home games at the Nuevo Pepico Amat, which has a capacity of 5,776 seats in the city of Elda.