Messi Set to Take Full Ownership of Eldense After Preliminary Deal With Colombian Investment Group TH

Lionel Messi already has Cornella in his investment portfolio, and now he's set his sights on another Spanish club. The Argentine has reached a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Eldense, a Segunda Division side, after negotiating the purchase of the shareholding from Colombian investment group TH. The deal still needs approval from Spain's Higher Sports Council (CSD), but Elda's mayor, Ruben Alfaro, has already confirmed that talks are well advanced.

The news broke the same day LaLiga president Javier Tebas fielded questions on the matter. He was candid about it, saying he had no official information about the purchase, but he made his broader stance clear, one that boils down to a simple idea: the more superstars who put money into Spanish soccer, the better for everyone.

I don't know whether Messi is going to buy Eldense or not. What I do know is that if it happens, just as it did with Almeria, it will be an honor for us that the two greatest players in world soccer of recent years are thinking about putting part of their savings into Spanish soccer and making it bigger.Javier Tebas

The comparison to Almeria isn't a coincidence. Cristiano Ronaldo recently acquired a 25% stake in the Andalusian club, and Tebas points to that move as a mirror of what could now happen with Messi and the Elda side. Two players who defined an era, investing their savings in Spanish clubs at levels far removed from the ones they played at as footballers: while Cristiano is joining a top-flight club with recent history in Spain's highest division, Messi already has a foot in the Tercera RFEF with Cornella and would now be looking to jump up to the Segunda Division with Eldense.

Tebas Also Defends LaLiga's Quality

Speaking at the presentation of this season's Panini stickers, Tebas didn't stop at the topic of investment. He wanted to highlight a stat he feels often gets overlooked: of the 52 finalists from the last World Cup, 25 belong to Spanish clubs. For the LaLiga chief, that number explains better than any speech why LaLiga remains a magnet for talent, even though it doesn't command the financial figures of other leagues.

"We never appreciate what we have in this country, in general (...) We have the best players in the world playing here even though we're not the league with the most money, but we are the one with the highest quality of competition," he explained. He went further when discussing England's Premier League, which he sees as heading toward a reckoning: according to Tebas, the British government itself has created a regulatory body to rein in the financial excesses of its clubs, in a context where several major teams are under investigation for alleged financial irregularities that may have gone on for years.

Tebas also addressed another sensitive issue: the anti-Semitic chants heard outside the Santiago Bernabeu before the Champions League match against Inter. He confirmed that LaLiga intends to report the incident to the relevant authorities, even though it involves a European competition rather than Spain's own domestic league.