Messi Names Pablo Garcia Montanes as New Eldense President

Lionel Messi's first major boardroom move as owner of CD Eldense is official: lawyer Pablo Garcia Montanes has been appointed the club's new president.

A new president for Messi's Spanish club

The Messi era at CD Eldense is taking shape off the pitch as well as on it. The Spanish club has announced the appointment of Pablo Garcia Montanes as its new president, the first major restructuring of the board since Lionel Messi completed his takeover of the Segunda Division side. Garcia Montanes, a lawyer who works as a secretary at the bank Andbank, will handle the club's institutional representation going forward. He has already been spotted taking his seat in the presidential box during recent matches, a clear sign that the transition at the top is complete.

The appointment arrives just days after Messi finalized his acquisition of the club, a deal announced on October 1, 2026 and still subject to the required authorization from Spain's National Sports Council, the Consejo Superior de Deportes. With the ownership change now public and permanent, the boardroom shake-up was the logical next step — and Garcia Montanes is the face Messi has chosen to lead it. The choice says something about the kind of project this will be: not a celebrity figurehead, but a professional administrator trusted to represent the club at institutional level while the football people run the football.

Mario Rosas stays in charge of daily operations

While Garcia Montanes assumes the presidential duties, former footballer Mario Rosas will remain at the helm of the club's day-to-day operations as general director. According to the administrative structure unveiled by the club, Rosas will continue managing the practical, routine execution of club business — ensuring continuity during a season of historic change in Elda.

Rosas is not the only familiar face staying put. The club has designated three primary public figures to handle communications and speak on Eldense's behalf within their own spheres: Rosas himself, sporting director Victor Lafuente and head coach Javi Calleja. The structure gives the club a clean division of responsibilities — institutional representation, sporting decisions and the technical side of the first team — and keeps the voices fans hear tied to the people actually making the decisions.

That continuity matters. Eldense is competing in Spain's second tier with some of the division's lowest revenue and costs, and mid-season stability has genuine sporting value. Keeping Rosas, Lafuente and Calleja in place signals that the new ownership's first instinct was to protect what already works rather than clear the desks.

The full new structure: vice-president, board and the Messi office

The restructuring extends well beyond the presidency. According to Marca, Alicante-based journalist Marcelo Mendez Mingot has taken up the vice-presidency, while Alicante-born architect Fernando Valderrama has joined the club's board of directors, with both appointments confirmed on Eldense's official website. The local flavour is deliberate: two men from the city of Alicante sitting at the heart of a club that prides itself on its roots in the town of Elda.

One clarification stands out in the club's announcement: Alfonso Nebot, the director of the family office tasked with managing Lionel Messi's financial assets, will maintain his current position without taking on any operational role or official link to Eldense. The message is deliberate — the project will be run by football and business professionals on the ground, even as Messi's name brings the club unprecedented global attention. There will be no blurred lines between the player's private fortune and the club's governance.

From Carolina Holguin to a new chapter

Garcia Montanes replaces Carolina Holguin Tafur, the outgoing president whose time at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Pepico Amat officially ended with the Messi takeover. In her farewell statement released by the club, Holguin expressed pride at handing over the reins, saying that leaving the club in Messi's hands gave her peace of mind, and she asked the fans to give the new owner a warm welcome from his very first day.

Holguin presided over a genuinely historic cycle: under her leadership the institution achieved three promotions in a single season while developing both the women's team and the academy. Her one direct request to Messi was to take care of the club, respect what it means to its people and, above all, bring big dreams to Elda. It is a high bar — but inheriting a club on the rise is a better starting point than most new owners get.

Why this matters for the long-term Messi project

The appointments confirm the shape of what Eldense called, in its official takeover statement, a long-term project aimed at boosting the club's sporting, institutional and social development. Messi is not brand new to football ownership — he acquired fifth-tier Catalan outfit UE Cornella back in April — but Eldense is a significant step up, and the professional structure now in place reflects that.

Messi is thought to have been charmed by Eldense's backstory: the club was founded in 1921 by Barcelona fans and plays in the Blaugrana's famous blue and garnet colours. That emotional connection is now paired with serious infrastructure — a president for the institutions, a general director for the operations, a sporting director for the signings and a coach for the pitch.

What this means on the pitch — and the Almeria date

The new board takes over a club with genuine momentum. Eldense thrashed Real Oviedo 4-1 the day after Messi's takeover was announced — a result the new owner celebrated with a picture of himself watching the match on his Instagram story. Founded more than a century ago and competing in Spain's second tier, the club has punched above its weight on modest resources, and the Messi factor is expected to change what is possible there.

Then there is the rivalry no one can stop talking about. Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a stake in Almeria, who play in the same division as Eldense, setting up a Messi-vs-Ronaldo boardroom duel in the Segunda — the latest chapter of the rivalry Ronaldo once said was gone. The two clubs already met on the season's opening weekend, with Almeria winning 3-0 at home; the reverse fixture is scheduled at Eldense's ground on May 2. For the new president Garcia Montanes, that date — and the long-term job of developing the club at every level — will define his tenure.

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