Overview
- Local officials and multiple outlets reported a preliminary agreement on Tuesday, Sept. 8, for Lionel Messi to acquire 100% of CD Eldense from the Colombian group TH.
- The sale remains conditional on an exhaustive due diligence review of the club’s accounts and a final authorization from Spain’s Consejo Superior de Deportes before it can be formalized.
- The club has already made an immediate sporting change: coach Claudio Barragán was dismissed and the sporting directors are working to propose replacement candidates to the incoming ownership.
- If completed, Eldense would join Messi’s existing football projects, including UE Cornellà and clubs in Argentina and Uruguay, although Spanish rules bar common ownership if both clubs rise to the same top tiers.
- The deal could bring rapid investment in recruitment and youth development to the small city of Elda, and officials say formalization is expected in the coming days if regulatory and financial checks pass.