Several Spanish media reports stated that Lionel Messi is close to completing the deal to purchase CD El Denense, a competitor in the Spanish second division, to add it to his growing ownership of clubs.
Reports indicated that Messi agreed in principle to acquire all the shares owned by the majority owner (TH Solutions SAS Group). The deal is expected to be announced in the coming days.
The Colombian investment group, which acquired El Denense in October 2025, will transfer its entire stake to Messi. The deal is still subject to the approval of the Supreme Sports Council in Spain.
Reuters was unable to obtain an immediate comment from the TH Solutionis Group and the Eldense Club.
Messi, who recently retired from international football, acquired UE Cornella, a club competing in the Spanish fifth division, on April 16.
He is also scheduled to obtain a share in the American club Inter Miami, once his contract as a player with the team expires.
France Football magazine, which awards the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world, announced the presence of Messi (39 years old) on an initial list of 30 players nominated to win the award.
Messi has already won the award 8 times, most recently in 2023.
The headquarters of the Eldense Club are located in the city of Elda, which has a population of about 55,000 people, in the province of Alicante in eastern Spain.
The club has spent most of its history in the lower divisions, but has played in the second division in three of the past four seasons thanks to new investments.
El Dinsi fired its coach, Claudio Barragan, last Sunday, after obtaining only two points from the first 4 league matches, ranking 20th among 22 teams.
Frances Tiafoe regained his balance after being two sets behind and a break of serve, to beat his American compatriot Alex Mikkelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 in the US Open Tennis Championship on Wednesday, to reach the semi-finals for the third time after a dramatic comeback.
Tiafoe, seeded 11th, seemed to lose his luster at the beginning of the tournament before regaining his momentum in the third set and deciding it with a successful forehand, amid thunderous cheers from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Mikkelsen did not receive enough attention during his best Grand Slam career, but he gained respect on the biggest American tennis courts thanks to 21 aces, and Tiafoe stopped his celebration to console the 22-year-old during a long, warm embrace at the net.
“I'm gradually starting to regain my rhythm there,” said Tiafoe, who will face the winner of the match between eighth seed Ben Shelton or defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. He is a really great player.”
Tiafoe shined this week on Louis Armstrong Court, which he loves, but he had difficulty finding his rhythm on Arthur Ashe Court, where he fired four winners compared to his opponent's 15 in the first set, before losing the decisive break on the set point.
Mikkelsen showed some of his best form by getting to the net in the second set, earning the decisive break with a brilliant backhand shot and sending another shot down the sideline to break his opponent's serve in the opening game of the third set.
Mikkelsen, who was not seeded, was serving to end the match when he became nervous and committed two double faults. This was the chance Tiafoe had been waiting for, and the veteran held on and converted a break point to level the score at 5-5.
Tiafoe continued his pressure and managed to withstand a long exchange of blows, breaking his opponent's serve again on the winning point in the set, before winning the first three games in the penultimate set, as he raised his level at all levels.
The two players gave their best in the exciting final set, as the crowd jumped when Tiafoe sealed the win before offering words of encouragement to Mikkelsen, who was crying.
“Honestly, I don't think anyone else could have made me cry in that moment,” said Mikkelsen, who achieved his best result at a major tournament by reaching the quarter-finals. “Francis is a very good man, and he said a lot of personal things that moved me deeply.”
This moment of sportsmanship attracted almost as much attention as Tiafoe's stunning comeback, as the veteran player was able to feel the bitterness of defeat more than others after being eliminated from Wimbledon and Roland Garros this year in exciting matches that spanned five sets.
“I understand this moment,” Tiafoe said. He was definitely crying on my shoulder. Yes, we exchanged a few words, and that's all.
Spaniard Carlos Alcarras, ranked third in the world, lost his title in the US Tennis Championship, losing in the quarter-finals to American Ben Shelton, eighth: 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (7-10), in a match that ended after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday local time in New York.
After a match that lasted 4 hours and 28 minutes, Shelton put an end to Alcarras' series of victories in the four major tournaments at 18 consecutive matches, ending the Spaniard's return to the field for the first time after an absence of more than 4 months due to injury.
The 23-year-old will compete in the semi-finals for the second time in the last of the four major tournaments, after the first of 2023, when his career ended at the hands of Serbian Novak Djokovic. In his next test, he will meet his compatriot Frances Tiafoe 0-3 in the fifth set.
Tuesday's confrontation, which became the longest in the morning hours in the history of the American tournament, was the fourth between 23-year-old players, and Shelton achieved his first victory over the Spaniard, who also won the title in 2022, in his first major victory out of 7 so far, after previously losing in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000-point tournament in 2023, the group stage of the “Laver” Cup in 2024, and the eighth final of “Roland Garros” in 2025.
This is the first time that Alcarras has failed to reach the semi-finals at least in the four major tournaments, since the “Australian Open” at the beginning of last year, when he was eliminated in the quarter-finals as well, before he was crowned champion of “Roland Garros” and “Flushing Meadows” and then the “Australian Open” in 2026, in addition to the “Wimbledon” final in 2025.
