Lionel Messi now plays for Inter Miami in the USA, but he still has ties to Barcelona, the city where he matured into a global star and celebrated some of his greatest successes. Now “La Pulga” has bought his own soccer club in the Spanish metropolis.
Lionel Messi has become a club owner and bought the Spanish fifth division club UE Cornella, which is based in the Catalan metropolis of Barcelona. The Argentinian World Cup winner played for FC Barcelona for 21 years, from 2000 to 2021, and has remained connected to the city – his entry into the club’s ownership underlines this, according to Cornella.
“This move strengthens Messi’s close ties with Barcelona and his commitment to promoting sport and local talent in Catalonia – a connection that has its foundations in his time at FC Barcelona and has continued ever since,” the club wrote in a statement, looking forward to the future, as: “Leo Messi’s arrival marks the beginning of a new chapter in the club’s history. The aim is to drive forward both the sporting and institutional growth of the club, strengthen its foundations and continue to invest in talent.”
In the Catalan province of Baix Llobregat, they emphasized that they want to maintain their successful youth development work to date and stressed that “the project is based on a long-term vision and a strategic plan that combines ambition, sustainability and a strong connection to the local roots”.
Sporting decline
UE Cornella was founded in 1951 and has built up a solid reputation as a talent factory in the past, producing top players such as David Raya, Gerard Martin, Keita Baldé and Jordi Alba, who was or is a teammate of Messi at FC Barcelona and now at Inter Miami. In sporting terms, however, things have been anything but good for UE of late; they were relegated twice in a row and were relegated from the third division to the fifth division.
With the investment, eight-time world footballer Messi also drew level with his perennial rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese joined Spanish second division club UD Almeria in February when he acquired a 25% stake in the club through his company “CR7 Sports Investments”.
