Messi expands his football empire with a new club

Argentine star Lionel Messi is preparing to embark on a new experience outside the green rectangle, through a new investment project in Spanish football, after the name of Eldense club, which competes in the Spanish Second Division, emerged as one of his most prominent upcoming projects. Eldense currently plays in the Spanish Second Division, having successfully been promoted to the competition, while the club is based in a city with a population of just over 55,000. In terms of fan attendance, Eldense has a fan base of approximately 3,500 season ticket holders, as the club seeks to strengthen its position and compete more in Spanish football. The outlines of Messi’s new project began to emerge quickly, after the name of Spanish coach Javi Calleja was linked to taking over the technical leadership of the team during the next stage, succeeding the dismissed coach Claudio Barragán. Despite no final agreement being reached with Calleja yet, the Spanish coach is the leading candidate to take over Eldense and lead the team in the coming period. Eldense is not Messi’s first foray into the world of sports investment, as the Argentine star owns Cornella, which competes in the Spanish third division. Messi also owns a stake in Deportivo LSM, a third-division club in Uruguay, in partnership with his close friend and former Barcelona teammate, Luis Suarez. The Messi family's sporting activities do not stop there, as the family also oversees the Leones FC project, which is headed by his brother Matias Messi.