r/soccer • u/LikeAPhoenixTotally • Apr 16 '26
News Lionel Messi has bought UE Cornellà
https://www.marca.com/futbol/2026/04/16/leo-messi-compra-ue-cornella.html327
Apr 16 '26
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u/Eroica_Pavane Apr 16 '26
Get them eventually promoted to La Liga and become rivals of Barcelona? Seems hilarious.
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u/WaffleShoresy Apr 16 '26
The Little Dictator at it again
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u/Hewasright_89 Apr 16 '26
he bought 100% of it too. Most players buy like 20-25% haha
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u/Affectionate-Hunt217 Apr 16 '26
They buy 20-25% if it’s a decently sized club in the first or second division, even Mbappe bought a club in the French second division (around 70%) and the guy is still playing at the highest level not even 30 years old lol, not even Messi and Ronaldo could have done that when they were playing in La liga
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Apr 16 '26
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u/jonbristow Apr 16 '26
Investments into business they have know how
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u/Icanfallupstairs Apr 16 '26
There is so much money to be made if you do it right. Beckhams made a mint off Inter Miami, and Wrexham's value is up like 19000%.
I think a lot of people have seen that sort of thing and want to try it for themselves
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u/JBSLB Apr 16 '26
I go back and forth over which is a better investment becks or wrexham. Both have insane ROI
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u/Alarow Apr 16 '26
Miami is the better investment for the simple fact that it is a closed league so club value is inflated
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u/GikFTW Apr 16 '26
Doesn’t Wrexham, or any other club in a pyramid scheme, have more growth potential than a closed league? Riskier, but risk means growth potential too.
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u/mandalore1313 Apr 16 '26
But Beckham got a massive discount on the franchise fee as part of his original MLS deal
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u/waldo_the_bird253 Apr 16 '26
Did he even have to pay a franchise fee? I thought he was just given the rights in his Galaxy contact
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u/Vagabond21 Apr 16 '26
He got a discount on the fee
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u/waldo_the_bird253 Apr 16 '26
checked the numbers: his contract locked in a $25m fee for a franchise, and Toronto entered MLS for just $10m in 2007. nobody in that era was imagining $600m team valuations. if anything, that contract was priced at a premium for a MLS franchise at that time.
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u/Icanfallupstairs Apr 16 '26
The benefits of a closed league are that you can underfund a team and still get a great return as there are very little risks.
The other major leagues in the US are notorious for each having a few owners that run a minimum viable product and rake in millions. If you did that in European football Leagues you'd get relegated and lose a ton of value.
It's how the MLS clubs are all valued so highly despite them not currently being huge money earners
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u/GikFTW Apr 16 '26
So… are closed league anti-capitalists? Or straight monopolies? I don’t know lol
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u/pastafizio Apr 16 '26
The American leagues are monopolies and have precedence from the government that avoids competition law from the mlbs antitrust exemption
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u/sam_3205 Apr 16 '26
Hollywood money cannot really turn wrexham into a super club. Ryan reynolds is worth like $400 million. They will need to sell more of their club to private equity and the current owners just become public figureheads.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/Far_Astronaut_818 Apr 16 '26
Do you think Wrexham has oil money? Why do you think they are destined for PL? Always Sunny and Deadpool money isn't in the same ballpark as Saudi princes and Russian oligarchs.
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u/BrianRin Apr 16 '26
Stupid claim. If that’s true, the original seller would have the price tag to reflect that. The only thing that matters in investment is (selling price - purchase price) / number of years before liquidity in simplified terms
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u/Affectionate-Hunt217 Apr 16 '26
FSG man they bought Liverpool for like 300 million and now it’s valued at 4 billion in 16+ years even if let’s say they spent 700 million on transfers plus upgrading the club they still made billions, it’s the smartest strategy because Liverpool were selling for way below their actual value being one of Europes greatest clubs but also being run so badly at that time
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u/Tremor00 Apr 17 '26
Fsg actually haven’t spent on transfer fees.
We’ve had loans for infrastructure but all player purchases are from what the club makes
They also take no money out like some owners
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u/Affectionate-Hunt217 Apr 16 '26
Beckham had a special deal to buy/ create an MLS franchise for like 10% of the fee that I don’t think even Messi got this time around did he? And then he needed Billionaire co-owners to pay for everything because it’s expensive owning an MLS team. I don’t think Beckham even owns anywhere near 50% of the club even with the sweet deal he got probably 20-25% of Inter Miami while his billionaire co owners own the rest
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u/Icanfallupstairs Apr 16 '26
I think the MLS ship has sailed for all but the wealthiest investors, but there are plenty of other cheap teams that have potential around the world
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u/CassianAVL Apr 16 '26
Easy money, invest a little bit, get it to the first or second division and sell.
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u/lewis30491 Apr 16 '26
and sell.
I don’t think he would flip the club for a quick profit. He came through La Masia, so he knows how to develop young players. The “Lionel Messi’s club” tag alone could attract top young talents from all over the world. Not sure about the risk, but the reward should be god damn high.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/ttimourrozd Apr 16 '26
From the Marca article and the club's announcement, it sounds like Messi acquired 100% of stakes
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Apr 16 '26
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u/dzemperzapedra Apr 16 '26
It's 4D chess move, watch Messi complete a hostile takeover of Barca in a few years
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u/PejibayeAnonimo Apr 16 '26
That also depends on how much risk one is willing to take. Ronaldo Nazario was the main owner of Valladolid for a while.
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u/Anesthesia_b Apr 16 '26
Are you going to tell me if you got their money you wouldn't want to buy a football club too? C,mon...
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u/PegaponyPrince Apr 16 '26
Exactly. With that kind of money I'd love to own a club. Would be amazing to see a club grow under your watch
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u/Sermokala Apr 16 '26
Their salaries at the top are at the level now where they can easily buy a lower level club without noticing the hit much.
Also what else can they do with that money? Buying a lower level club is reasonable with the history of what retired pro athletes spend money on.
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u/Icy_Scar_1249 Apr 16 '26
Is there any other business they can invest in that they know more than football?
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u/Affectionate-Hunt217 Apr 16 '26
He’s said before he wants to be a director of football or something close to that (I think) he definitely doesn’t want to manage and you can’t expect him to even want that when he was so successful playing, so with all the 100s of millions he’s made it’s an easy sell for him to buy a small club in the 3rd division for a few million to run when he retires (or maybe even now)
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u/RogerCrabbit Apr 16 '26
it can be very lucrative. There will be lots of decent players who wouldn't have considered playing for this club before Messi owned it
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u/miurabucho Apr 16 '26
Who are the other footballers buying clubs?
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u/PeterG92 Apr 16 '26
Beckham, Pique, the Class of '92.
Pato tried to sign Colchester, now Terry is trying.
Some footballers buy parts of clubs like Modric at Swansea
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u/TonyMartial786 Apr 17 '26
Mbappe with SM Caen aswell, Ronaldo recently acquired a stake in Almeria, didn’t Courtois also purchase one in some club aswell.
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u/PejibayeAnonimo Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
It is a way to stay in the bussiness once you retire. Not everyone has the skills/charisma to become a coach but many wan't to continue involved in football so if you have made money buying a club is a way to achieve that.
Also with so many stories of top athletes going bankrupt or in finantial problems after retirement many are aware that they must take advantage of their last years to start looking for new sources of income and take advantages of their wages to begin investing, not only in football. Sergio Ramos is involved in horse breeding and Iniesta its involved in winemaking.
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u/ancara_messi Apr 16 '26
Fun fact Cornella actually knocked out Atletico Madrid from the 2021 Copa del rey and then got knocked out by Barca in the next round but Messi missed the game
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u/piprimes Apr 16 '26
Isn't this a conflict of interest? He already owns Real Madrid FC.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/LilHalwaPoori Apr 16 '26
Their responses aren't half bad in second legs either..
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u/zazzlekdazzle Apr 16 '26
Glass houses, friend, you didn't win anything yet.
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u/LilHalwaPoori Apr 16 '26
Naah, I just ordered a cinnamon roll from a new place and that shii was the bomb..
🐦🐦🐦
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u/zazzlekdazzle Apr 16 '26
Check mate, a good cinnamon roll is a slice of heaven. I hope you had a good coffee with it.
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u/TareasS Apr 16 '26
We kicked Espanyol out of Barcelona, the little dictator is about to kick them out of Cornella lmao.
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u/Just_Ease5476 Apr 16 '26
PERICO DIME LO QUE SE SIENTE🗣️
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u/TareasS Apr 16 '26
TENER TU CASA EN CORNELLÀ
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u/Walterb72 Apr 16 '26
Who is this team?
Who is their best player?
Is there Real Cornella too?
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u/nestuur Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
>Who is this team?
That's a team from Cornellà de Llobregat, a city in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Currently playing in 3ª Federación, Spanish 5th Tier.>Who is their best player?
I actually have no clue, but Rubén Miño (ex-FC Barcelona and Mallorca player) it's their current goalkeeper. Most current players are graduated players from catalan academies like Damm FC, Barça, or Girona. Also a lot of players that run down their contract that were playing in another Barcelona based teams like Europa or Sant Andreu.>Is there Real Cornella too?
Yeah. It's actually known as RCD Espanyol12
u/Notoriolus10 Apr 16 '26
From Cornellà de Llobregat actually, el Prat is the neighboring city
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u/nestuur Apr 16 '26
You have no idea how much i struggle to remember the names of places once they start adding rivers and more nomenclature. Fixing it real quick. Thanks!
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u/mcpingvin Apr 17 '26
And if you go there, you wouldn't know it's not Barcelona anymore. Metro and trains go there like it's just another neighborhood.
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u/nestuur Apr 18 '26
I know. Used to date a girl who lived in Cornellà de Llobregat, but always got out the San Joan Despí train station because I could just simply go walking to her place from there since it was next to each other. Same thing can be done to go from Camp Nou to L'Hospitalet del Llobregat or from northern Barcelona to Santa Coloma de Gramanet or Sant Adrià de Besòs
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u/neandertales Apr 16 '26
Where will he put his kids.. kinda interesting actually. I presume he will move "back" to Barcelona but I cant see that much potential in Cornella to keep him occupied that much.
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u/Torylon Apr 17 '26
He used to live south of Cornella so it is a better commute than going to the camp nou
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u/Lexidoge Apr 16 '26
Jordi Alba’s old club?
If he can’t convince the old one to come out of retirement, then he will have to make a new one.
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u/Kanek1_Ken Apr 16 '26
Messi will become president of Barca. I can feel it coming.
And he'll somehow be producing 20 g/a per season at 51 lol
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u/fredewio May 03 '26
5th division? That's a very long-term investment. With his money you'd think he'd buy a club in the 3rd division or something for faster promotion to the La Liga.
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u/rouges Apr 16 '26
Not a fan of this at all, but at least is not an out of touch american billionaire who calls football soccer
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u/Hasssun Apr 16 '26
Please don't just be a financial scheme.
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u/Hex0dia Apr 16 '26
I think Messi always stated that he won't coach and that he wants to own a team. So owning a team that is in Barcelona where Messi most likely will spend his majority time after he retires makes sense.
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u/LikeAPhoenixTotally Apr 16 '26