Women's football isn't interesting? Lionel Messi wouldn't agree

At 38 years old, he has been at the pinnacle of the sport for a considerable period. In a matter of days, he will captain Argentina into the World Cup as the reigning world champion. Even a figure as iconic as Messi acknowledges that women's football can no longer be ignored. That is why he has chosen to venture into this arena himself and build something from scratch.

On April 16th, Messi acquired UE Cornella, a club competing in the regional Segunda Catalana, roughly the seventh tier of Spanish football, with aspirations of steadily progressing towards La Liga. On its own, this would not be particularly remarkable. Many footballers of his calibre own smaller clubs: Kylian Mbappe owns SM Caen, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a part-owner of Swedish side Hammarby.

Messi has also decided to establish a women's team, something the club previously lacked. And his ambitions for it are equally high: to reach Liga F, Spain's top division. For now, the league is dominated by his beloved Barcelona, home to many of the biggest names in women's football. Barca's biggest star, Alexia Putellas, however, recently left the club after 14 years.

The prospect of Messi's club one day challenging Barca at the highest level would create a fascinating narrative in Spanish women's football.

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Similar ambitions can be seen in the Frauen-Bundesliga project at Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund's women's team was founded only in 2020 and has climbed the pyramid season after season. The club recently received a major boost with the arrival of Alexandra Popp after 14 years at Wolfsburg, as well as Ralf Kellermann, who spent the last two decades at Wolfsburg working as a scout, coach, sporting director, and head of the women's department.

Kellermann turned Wolfsburg into a European powerhouse, winning Bundesliga titles, a record eleven domestic cups, and two Champions League trophies in 2013 and 2014. Together with coach Thomas Hogner, his task at Dortmund is to establish professional structures capable of reaching the Bundesliga. His next challenge is now clear.

But back to the Argentinian king. Messi has not yet revealed what kind of signings or investments he is planning for his club. Union Cornella is already scouting youth players across Catalonia, while the women's team will initially operate at amateur level with plans for gradual professionalisation and investment into infrastructure. It is therefore very likely that Messi's new club is producing talent similar to that of Aitana Bonmati, a three-time Ballon d'Or winner.

But the very fact that Messi is investing in and building a women's team speaks volumes. For him, women's football is clearly not something to be pushed aside or treated as secondary.

The Men's World Cup kicks off in a few days, and the peak of women's football will take place in Brazil next summer. At Queenballers.com, you can find out everything you need to know about women's football.