Messi completes purchase of 2nd Spanish club

Lionel Messi has completed the purchase of Spanish second-division club Eldense, the team confirmed Thursday. The club is currently owned by the Colombian investment group Grupo TH, which also has clubs in Colombia and Switzerland. Eldense said Messi’s arrival signals the start of a long-term plan for the club’s sporting, institutional and social development, though the agreement still depends on approval from Spain’s National Sports Council (CSD). Messi’s investment makes Eldense only the first professional club in Spain where he has put money, after buying the fifth-division team Cornellà earlier this year. Eldense, founded in 1921, were promoted to the second tier in 2023, relegated in 2025, and returned this summer; they sacked coach Claudio Barragán earlier this week. Messi, 39, is also partly involved in Uruguay’s Deportivo LSM with Luis Suárez.