Messi turns Elda into a new Masia: from Miami to the Alicante club

In the heart of the province of Alicante, Leo Messi has bought Club Deportivo Eldense, creating a sort of “Masia” between Cornellà and Elda: the number ten shirt that wrote world football history now becomes the symbol of an ambitious entrepreneurial project.

An investment that doubles the Spanish presence

After acquiring in recent months the shares of UE Cornellà in Catalonia, the Argentine star currently at Inter Miami has decided to double down, targeting the club founded in 1921 and recently promoted to the Segunda División, the Spanish “Silver League”. The purchase of Cornellà was already a strategic foothold near his beloved Barcelona; the move to Elda adds a romantic challenge and a new development hub. Messi, who has long been looking beyond his playing career, chose Spain, the country that raised and crowned him, as the perfect garden for his investments.

Local impact and mixed reactions

Elda, a town of about 55,000 inhabitants in the Valencian Community, is known as the Spanish capital of high‑quality women's footwear; now its industrial district is under global spotlight thanks to the new owner. The Estadio Municipal Nuevo Pepico Amat, inaugurated in 2012, seats only 5,776 spectators but boasts a natural grass pitch with a FIFA 2‑star rating and more than 3,500 season ticket holders who fill the stands every other Sunday. The challenge for Eldense is to stay in the Segunda División, but with Messi behind them the hope of dreaming big is more alive than ever.

The Messi effect on social media was immediate: after the purchase of Cornellà in April, the club temporarily overtook Espanyol in follower count, demonstrating the market power of the Argentine name. In Elda, major international brands have already shown interest in sponsoring the team, seeing the Messi brand as a catalyst for global growth. The municipality of Elda welcomed the investment enthusiastically, opening up strategic collaborations for the development of city infrastructure and grassroots football.

Not everyone, however, welcomed the expansion of Messi’s football empire. In Barcelona, the Cornellà boom has caused discontent among RCD Espanyol supporters, as Cornellà’s facilities are located near Espanyol’s stadium (Cornellà‑El Prat) and the media presence of the “Flea” is perceived as invasive. Nevertheless, the local authorities in Elda see the partnership as an opportunity to enhance the region’s football tradition and attract investment.

Messi’s project therefore takes shape as a true talent factory: the proximity to Cornellà allows monitoring promising young players from the Catalan cantera, while Elda provides a more intimate setting to experiment with innovative training methods. With his experience at Inter Miami, Messi also brings an international perspective that can enrich the development of Spanish players.

In summary, the purchase of Deportivo Eldense represents the second step of an ambitious plan that combines passion, entrepreneurship and youth development. The sporting challenge remains survival in the Segunda División, but the economic and cultural impact on the entire province of Alicante is already evident.