Lionel Messi Set to Acquire CD Eldense

Lionel Messi is set to become the outright owner of CD Eldense, adding another club to a rapidly growing football empire that now stretches from Spain to Uruguay and the United States.

According to Marca, the Inter Miami star has reached an agreement in principle to acquire 100 per cent of the Segunda Division side’s shares, with no third-party partners involved. The deal is subject only to the completion of due diligence and the formal green light from Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD), expected in the coming days.

A quiet provincial club, a global superstar buyer

Eldense, based in Elda in the province of Alicante, has been far from the global spotlight. That is about to change.

The club is currently controlled by an international investment group led by businessman Juan Carlos Trujillo, who took over from Pascual Perez in October 2025. That project now looks set to end under the weight of one of the sport’s most powerful names.

Talks had been moving in a different direction. Argentine investor Ricardo Pini had stepped forward with a proposed €12 million offer and appeared well placed to take control. Then Messi entered the frame. His arrival at the negotiating table instantly reshaped the landscape and pushed him to the front of the queue to buy the Elda outfit, located not far from Catalonia.

Once ratified, the agreement will hand him complete control of the club’s shares and, with it, the keys to a historic institution fighting to hold its ground in Spain’s fiercely competitive second tier.

The Messi family’s growing football map

This is no one-off vanity purchase. It is part of a clear pattern.

Earlier this year, the Messi family completed the acquisition of UE Cornella, a club competing in Spain’s fifth tier. That move was seen as a first serious step into club governance on European soil, a test case for how the family might run a football institution away from the pitch.

The portfolio has already stretched beyond Spain. Messi has joined forces with long-time friend and former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez to buy Uruguayan side Deportivo LSM, expanding their reach into South American football structures.

Inside the family, the influence runs deeper still. At Lions FC, another piece of the puzzle, Messi’s brother Matias serves as club president, underscoring how the family is embedding itself not just as investors, but as decision-makers in the sport’s day-to-day operations.

Eldense, if and when the CSD signs off, will become the most prominent club in that network, competing in a fully professional league with significant television exposure and intense weekly scrutiny.

Eldense in trouble on the pitch

Messi is stepping into a club that needs more than a famous name. It needs stability, direction, and points.

The Segunda Division season has started badly. Eldense collected just two points from their first four fixtures, a return that cost head coach Claudio Barragan his job. The club’s hierarchy, already under pressure from supporters, now faces a race to find a new manager capable of steadying a listing campaign.

The timing of the ownership change only heightens the stakes. Any incoming coach will walk into a dressing room aware that a global icon is about to become the ultimate boss, and that the margin for error in a league as unforgiving as the Segunda is slim.

Financially, Messi’s arrival should transform the landscape. His backing is expected to offer Eldense a firmer economic base, the chance to modernise structures, and the freedom to plan beyond survival. Strategically, the club could become a central hub in the Messi family’s wider network, a bridge between developmental projects like UE Cornella and higher levels of competition.

For now, the ink is not yet dry. The paperwork sits with Spain’s Higher Sports Council, the final barrier between a struggling provincial side and the most famous footballer on the planet as its new owner.

Once that signature lands, Eldense will no longer be just another Segunda club fighting to stay afloat. It will be the latest test of whether Messi’s dominance can extend from the pitch to the boardroom.