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Messi becomes owner of Spanish second-tier club CD Eldense before his Argentina farewell
Lionel Messi has bought CD Eldense, 19th in the Spanish second tier, five days before his final Argentina match against Benin. Roma have told Dybala and Molina they will not be at the farewell party.
by Lucas Morel · 2 min read
CD Eldense announced on Thursday that Lionel Messi has bought the club. The Inter Miami player, 39, now owns two Spanish clubs: he took over UE Cornellà in April. Founded in 1921 and based in Elda, in the province of Alicante, Eldense sit 19th of 22 in LaLiga Hypermotion, the Spanish second tier.
The club announces, the council decides
The statement promises “a new stage” and “a long-term project” to foster “the sporting, institutional and social development of CD Eldense”. The deal still needs the approval of Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD), and the statement gives neither a price nor the size of the stake.
In Rome, the fixture list comes before the party
Messi announced his international retirement this summer, weeks after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain 1-0 after extra time. The federation arranged one last friendly for him, against Benin at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on 6 October. Paulo Dybala and Nahuel Molina, World Cup winners alongside him in 2022, wanted to be there; Roma announced on Tuesday that they would not take part, “for sporting and logistical reasons, given the length of the intercontinental journey and the proximity of the club’s next official matches”.
The fixture list does the explaining: roughly fourteen hours of flying each way, a league trip to Como on 11 October, then Real Madrid at home in the Champions League on the 14th, three days later. Gian Piero Gasperini, whose team leads the Italian championship, had left the decision to the club.
Neither player was in Lionel Scaloni’s squad: the party called them to Buenos Aires, not the match. Dybala has not been called up since 2024; Molina, who joined from Atlético de Madrid this summer, played seven of Argentina’s eight matches at the last World Cup.
In its statement, Roma expresses “deep respect for Lionel Messi and his extraordinary career” and wishes him “a very special evening”. Three of the club’s other Argentinians, Balerdi, Soulé and Castro, were called up and will be back in Rome between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
The takeover was announced on Thursday, the farewell comes on Tuesday. “Life after football has already begun for Lionel Messi,” writes RMC Sport.