Overview
- Lionel Messi has taken 100% control of UE Cornellà after buying the club’s entire shareholding, as reported by La Vanguardia and echoed in a club statement cited by Clarín.
- The sale price was not disclosed, though reporting says it exceeded the club’s €271,000 legal share capital, which is only a nominal accounting figure rather than market value.
- Messi signaled early engagement by cheering Cornellà on Instagram during a match that Clarín reported ended 2-1 in favor of Europa B, with Cornellà still holding a playoff spot in Catalonia’s fifth-tier group.
- UE Cornellà split its structure in 2012, creating a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva for the business side of the first team while an independent foundation kept the other teams, including the women’s side.
- The club’s majority stake moved from ex-player Andrés Manzano to local businessman Francesc Espín Sánchez before Messi stepped in, and Messi’s camp says the Cornellà project will remain separate from his other ventures and his Inter Miami involvement.