Messi Completes CD Eldense Takeover as Club Confirms Second Spanish Acquisition of the Year

CD Eldense have confirmed that Lionel Messi has completed his takeover of the club, announcing the acquisition in a statement on the club's official website on Thursday, 1 October 2026. The deal, agreed last month with the Colombian investment group that held the majority shareholding, makes the 39-year-old the owner of a second Spanish club inside six months — and this one comes with a relegation battle attached.

"Club Deportivo Eldense officially announces the acquisition of the club by Leo Messi, marking the start of a new and exciting chapter in the club's history, which spans more than a hundred years," the Segunda División side wrote. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval, but the confirmation ends three weeks of speculation that began when the agreement in principle was first reported in mid-September.

Club Deportivo Eldense officially announces the acquisition of the club by Leo Messi, marking the start of a new and exciting chapter in the club's history, which spans more than a hundred years.— CD Eldense club statement, 1 October 2026

From agreement in principle to a signed deal

Messi's Eldense purchase closes a transaction first outlined in September, when he agreed to acquire the shares held by the club's Colombian majority shareholders. The completed acquisition, reported by Reuters and carried by the Mirror and India Today, arrives less than six months after the Argentine bought fifth-tier UE Cornellà in April — a club known for the grassroots work that has sent academy players to Barcelona.

Eldense, though, are a different order of investment: a professional second-division club founded in 1921, based in Elda near Alicante, playing in a league alongside fallen La Liga names such as Las Palmas, Real Mallorca and Girona. Anyone expecting the takeover to trigger a spending spree should temper it: Spain's salary-limit rules constrain what second-tier clubs can pay, and Eldense will have to work inside those financial regulations regardless of who signs the cheques.

Ownership confirmed, problems inherited

The timing is about long-term control, not short-term rescue — yet the immediate picture is bleak. Eldense sit 19th in the Segunda División after seven matches, with five points and four defeats, a start that has already dragged them above only Cádiz, Ceuta and Albacete in the table. The new owner inherits a squad scrapping to avoid a relegation fight in its first season under his stewardship.

Founded in 1921, CD Eldense faces this new stage with the ambition to consolidate and grow in professional football, while projecting its roots, history and blue and red feeling.— CD Eldense club statement, 1 October 2026

What completion actually changes

The practical difference from September's agreement in principle is control: Messi now owns the club rather than merely negotiating for it, with regulatory sign-off the last formality standing between announcement and full authority over sporting decisions. For a player who retired from international football after Argentina's run to the World Cup final this summer and is nearing the end of his playing days at Inter Miami, the move confirms club ownership as the next act rather than a sideline.

Cover image: 'Lionel Messi NE Revolution Inter Miami 7.9.25-165.jpg' via Wikimedia Commons (WikiPortraits), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reporting drawn from Reuters, the Mirror and India Today, quoting CD Eldense's club statement of 1 October 2026. — Ines Kovač, football business and governance correspondent.