After the final dance: Messi opens the vaults of his secret empire

At club level, there are no indications of an imminent end to his career. Messi's contract with Inter Miami runs until the end of the 2028 season, subject to an annual review, and those close to him do not expect him to leave before the mandatory deadline for that arrives.

The chances of extending the relationship appear very strong if Messi feels he can still continue playing, both physically and mentally. Ask those around him what he plans to do after that and they simply smile. Messi has never been a player who sets long-term plans, always accustomed to focusing on the next match and the challenges it brings.

Yet the shape of the coming stage has begun to emerge. Messi will remain connected to football, because a complete departure from the game that has accompanied him all his life seems extremely difficult. At the same time, he is broadening his interests towards business and investment, and has already begun to build an empire that extends beyond the boundaries of the green rectangle.

Becoming a sporting director or an adviser to a club president has long attracted his interest. He wants to be close to the centres of decision-making, without living the daily pressures of the constant travel, phone calls and meetings imposed by some executive positions.

Asked recently which option he prefers between becoming a coach or an owner, Messi clearly chose owner. The reason seems logical to him. A coach lives under the pressure of results week after week, deals with countless details, and finds himself in constant confrontation with crises, injuries and criticism.

An owner, by contrast, can map out the general course of the club from a calmer position, relatively far from the pressure of matches. But Messi does not want to be an owner who simply appoints the coach and then withdraws from the scene. He wishes to be involved in the details, make decisions and follow up on everything related to the project.

In Spain, Messi has already laid the first bricks of his footballing project. UE Cornellà, based on the outskirts of Barcelona and competing in the fifth division, became one of the earliest building blocks when he acquired the club in April to serve as an incubator for young talent.

Bigger news followed with CD Eldense, who play in the Spanish second division. On 1 October came the announcement that ownership would transfer to Messi, pending final approval from Spain's Higher Sports Council.

Eldense look set to sit at the heart of Messi's plans, though the first task this season appears modest and clear: avoiding relegation. That is why Javi Calleja, the former Villarreal coach, took over technical responsibilities alongside the arrival of the new owner.

The current plan runs both clubs through people Messi trusts, acting as the link between him and the sides until he can throw himself more fully into the project. He doesn't simply watch results from afar either. Messi follows Eldense's matches constantly on his own computer.

His first message as the new owner came after the 4-1 win over Real Oviedo, posted to his Instagram account: Aupa Deportivo, an encouraging phrase meaning "come on, Deportivo".

Messi's name made an instant mark. Around 12 companies lodged requests to sponsor the club within a few days, including brands that had been negotiating with the previous owners without reaching a final agreement, and others with prior commercial ties to the Argentine star.

Over in Uruguay, Messi launched another project alongside his close friend Luis Suárez. The pair founded Deportivo LSM in May 2025, and the team won promotion to the country's third division in its first season.

Early plans floated a wider network of clubs. But the high costs of carrying these teams through the various divisions quickly cooled the enthusiasm.

That idea of a sprawling club network is now off the table, with Messi's main focus on whether Eldense can establish itself in Spanish football.

Another connection awaits him in Miami. The terms of his Inter Miami contract hand him a stake in the club's ownership after he retires. Founding a brand new club of his own in the United States, however, is not part of his current plans.

Messi's return to his roots in Argentina remains an appealing idea for the fans, especially given his emotional attachment to Newell's Old Boys, the club he played for during his childhood in Rosario. But the truth is that nobody has discussed it officially at all.

Perhaps it crosses his mind during a session with Luis Suárez over a mate drink, just as thoughts of returning to Barcelona or a short spell at Napoli, the club forever tied to Maradona, might flicker through too.

Those close to Messi, though, expect none of these scenarios to come off. His current plans revolve mainly around Europe and Miami, while the ideal family home awaits him in Castelldefels, near the sea and the city of Barcelona. For him and his family, it is the perfect point of stability.

Owning clubs forms an important part of his project, but youth football holds a special place in Messi's interests. Newell's Old Boys stay strongly present here too, one of 16 academies taking part in the "Messi Cup" this year.

His interest goes beyond lending his name to the tournament. He is keen to follow his son's matches and everything around them, and he dedicates part of his time and money to supporting age-group competitions, according to "BBC Sport".

The tournament launched with eight teams. Messi then stunned the organisers last year. Expected to attend only one or two matches, perhaps the final, he turned up and followed every game across the whole tournament.

This edition has doubled the field to 16 teams, with the action set to kick off on 25 October inside Inter Miami's facilities in Florida.

Prominent clubs and academies make up the line-up, among them Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Arsenal and UE Cornellà, alongside a number of others.

Off the pitch, Messi has built a huge investment portfolio that partly explains Forbes magazine's June estimate of his net worth at around $1.1 billion. His annual income reached nearly $140 million over the previous year, split between football and commercial ventures.

His long-term partnership with Adidas, signed in 2017, remains one of his most famous commercial deals. Messi also owns the MiM Hotels venture, a chain of six boutique hotels stretching from Ibiza to Andorra. The Meliá group manages them under a lease agreement in effect since 1 November.

The name MiM combines Messi's own with that of the Majestic Hotels group, and Meliá Collection operates the hotels. In his hometown of Rosario, his family company is investing in the Carrasco M residential project, 24 homes overlooking the Paraná River. The real estate agency owned by Argentine star Ángel Di María handles the sales.

Restaurants feature too. Messi owns a stake in the El Club de la Milanesa chain, which plans to open five branches in Catalonia, the first in Castelldefels.

Real estate, hotels and restaurants were only the start. Messi has also entered the world of mate, the famous traditional South American drink, launching a special collection with Stanley, the company specialising in drinkware and beverage accessories.

This is the first long-term agreement Stanley have signed with an athlete, and Messi himself helped choose the materials and colours used in the collection.

Messi's move into business started alongside his father, Jorge, who ran his son's affairs from the very beginning. Jorge died in August at the age of 68, having spent years as one of the most prominent figures in his son's inner circle.

Some of that early advice landed the family in trouble with the Spanish tax authorities. Only later did Messi's business operation expand and grow into a more organised, stable network.

Branches specialising in television production, marketing, media and commercial partnerships all sat under the umbrella. These activities had already taken firm root before the serious health crisis that struck his father.

Today, Messi trusts a group of people to manage his business, some of whom have been with him since his early years at Barcelona. Every investment opportunity faces careful examination and scrutiny, so only what he feels comfortable with ever reaches him. He makes the final call on his relationship with the business world, and he lets no one force a path on him.

For all the size of his portfolio and the breadth of his ventures, Messi doesn't see himself as a fully fledged businessman. Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami last November, he said: "The business world is something that interests me. I would like to keep learning because I don't know anything and I am still at the start of the road."

That sentence sums up his vision for the next stage better than any announced plan. More than two decades at the summit of football have not left Messi ready to walk away from the game entirely, yet he has begun to build a new world around it.

Clubs, young talent, real estate, hotels, restaurants, major commercial partnerships: an empire bearing his name is gradually taking shape. Even so, the player inside him remains a player before anything else.

His portfolio is impressive. His projects keep expanding. His standing as a club owner is crystallising. Yet Messi is still chasing more on the pitch.

Here lies the most intriguing contradiction of the next stage: a legend approaching the curtain call on his international career, a businessman already sketching out the features of his empire, a club owner who wants to be close to the details, and a player still searching for a new reason to carry on.

The Messi era with Argentina is almost over. His own story has not yet come close to its end.