The proposed takeover of Elda Football Club by an investment group led by Lionel Messi has hit its first complication, just days after news of an agreement in principle emerged.
Former CD Eldense president and owner Pascual Pérez has launched legal action against the club’s current president, Carolina Holguín, over an alleged unpaid €1 million personal loan.
His lawyers have also asked the court to freeze shares connected to the Elda club as a precautionary measure. However, Holguín insists the claim will not derail the proposed sale to Messi’s group.
Former owner takes legal action
Pérez’s lawyers filed a claim for repayment against Holguín in the Alicante courts on Friday.
According to Pérez, the dispute relates to a personal loan he provided to the Colombian investment group TH in December 2025. He says the group needed the money to cover players’ wages.
The claim puts the unpaid amount at €1 million.
His legal team has requested the seizure of CD Eldense shares as a precautionary measure. The aim is to provide security for the debt if a court eventually rules in Pérez’s favour.
Pérez argues that the club ownership represents Holguín’s only known assets in Spain.
However, there is an important question still to resolve. Although Holguín serves as CD Eldense president on behalf of the TH group, it is unclear whether she personally owns the shares that Pérez wants the court to freeze.
Messi camp remains confident
That agreement does not mean the takeover has been completed. The proposed deal still depends on the parties meeting the agreed conditions and completing the remaining legal and contractual steps.
Despite the latest development, sources close to Messi’s team say they remain confident that the purchase will go ahead.
Messi also reportedly remains committed to becoming the club’s owner and does not currently consider Pérez’s legal action a threat to the deal.
Holguín has separately denied that the claim puts the proposed sale at risk.
Still a deal in progress
The latest twist adds another layer to a story that has quickly put Elda in the football spotlight.
Earlier this week, Elda mayor Rubén Alfaro confirmed that Messi’s representatives and the club’s current ownership had reached an agreement in principle.
For now, that remains the key phrase: agreement in principle.
Pérez has asked the court for a precautionary measure, but the source does not say that a judge has granted the requested share seizure. Nor has the proposed sale to Messi’s group collapsed.
The next question is whether the court accepts Pérez’s request and, crucially, whether the shares he wants frozen can form part of his claim.
Bridging the Gap’s recap
- Pascual Pérez has launched a €1 million debt claim against CD Eldense president Carolina Holguín.
- The former club owner says the dispute concerns a personal loan made in December 2025.
- His lawyers have asked a court to freeze CD Eldense shares as a precautionary measure.
- The source does not say that the court has granted that request.
- Questions remain over whether Holguín personally owns the shares concerned.
- The legal action comes days after Messi’s group reached an agreement in principle to buy CD Eldense.
- Holguín says the claim will not affect the proposed sale.
- Messi’s team reportedly remains confident that the takeover will go ahead.
