Andrés Iniesta has become co-owner of the Danish third-tier club Helsingør in the Spain legend’s first major off-field venture since retirement.

Helsingør announced that NSN, the sports management and consulting company jointly founded by Iniesta, would take control alongside the Swiss investment group Stoneweg. They are seventh in their 12-team division, to which they were relegated last season. NSN had been working with the club on a consultancy basis to, according to the firm’s website, “consolidate its position and give the opportunity to worldwide talents to come and play in Europe”.

Iniesta played his final professional match for the UAE side Emirates Club in May and officially retired at the age of 40 in October. He has publicly set his sights on a career in management and his involvement upstairs at Helsingør, a modestly sized club who have not reached the top flight since their formation from a merger of five clubs in 2005, will raise eyebrows.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to get to know football in a different way,” Iniesta said in a statement on the club’s website. The club’s manager is the Spaniard Pep Alomar and the sporting director, Quim Ramón, has been a coach at Iniesta’s academy having previously worked with Barcelona’s youth setup. Iniesta made 674 appearances during his glittering 15-and-a-half-year spell playing at the Camp Nou.

In an interview with the local outlet Helsingør Dagblad, Iniesta spelled out his ambition. “It’s an incredibly exciting club with really good facilities, a lot of good people in and around the club and a potential in the city to become an important part of Danish football,” he said. On Thursday morning Iniesta was pictured taking part in a training session at the club’s headquarters.

Helsingør are no strangers to foreign ownership. They were run by an American investment group led by Jordan Gardner for three seasons until August 2022, before being taken over by the local businessman Bo Bay Haugaard. Talks regarding the Iniesta-led takeover are thought to have been ongoing throughout this year. Denmark is popular among foreign ownership groups, who often see the country as a potentially profitable midway point for young players capable of playing in Europe’s top leagues.