Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has taken another step into football ownership after NXTPLAY — the sports investment platform he co-founded alongside Gonzalo Vila — officially acquired a stake in Spanish club CD Extremadura.
The agreement was announced this week by both parties, with current club president Daniel Tafur remaining in charge of the sporting and institutional direction of the project despite the new investment.
According to the announcement, discussions between Extremadura and
NXTPLAY had been ongoing for close to a year before the deal was finalized.
The timing of the acquisition coincides with one of the most successful periods in the club’s modern history. CD Extremadura recently secured promotion to Primera Federación after completing a remarkable run of four consecutive promotions — an unprecedented achievement in Spanish football.
The club’s rapid rise has transformed Extremadura into one of the more compelling rebuilding stories in the Spanish football pyramid after years of financial and institutional instability.
For Courtois and NXTPLAY, the investment represents the platform’s second major football ownership project.
Earlier this season, NXTPLAY also acquired a stake in French side Le Mans FC, who recently secured promotion back to Ligue 1. As a result, both clubs operating under the NXTPLAY umbrella achieved promotion during the same campaign.
The dual success immediately strengthens the visibility of the project and reinforces the group’s ambitions within football ownership and development.
While Courtois remains fully focused on his playing career at Real Madrid, the Belgian goalkeeper has increasingly expanded his interests away from the pitch in recent years, including ventures in esports, technology, and now multi-club football investment.
The announcement emphasized that work has already begun behind the scenes to prepare for what both sides view as the most ambitious phase of the Extremadura project so far.
Competing in Primera Federación will present a significantly greater challenge both financially and competitively, but the club’s leadership believes the current momentum can continue.
The long-term objective remains clear: returning Extremadura to professional football and eventually re-establishing the club at a higher level within the Spanish game.
For a club that only recently was fighting its way back from collapse, the arrival of outside investment tied to one of football’s biggest names represents another major turning point in an already extraordinary rise.
