Despite leaving Barcelona, Lionel Messi’s influence there is still very much felt. The 36-year-old has been established as one of this generation’s best footballers, entertaining fans on the pitch during his long and successful career.
In normal life, a napkin might not seem like much, but for Barcelona, a napkin changed the club’s history. Lionel Messi signed his first Barcelona contract on a napkin and the legendary napkin is now up for auction.
Before the auction begins on March 18, the napkin has been on show in New York to draw curiosity among the growing interest for football memorabilia.
Though officially projected to go for $380,000 to $635,000, Ian Ehling, head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, stated, “I do expect it to sell for much more.” Last December, a set of six shirts worn by Messi 10 during Argentina’s successful Qatar World Cup campaign in 2022 sold for $7.8 million at Sotheby’s auction, surpassing expectations.
Messi, who was born in 1987 to a working-class family in Rosario, around 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Buenos Aires, was 13 years old when he was spotted by Barcelona.
However, not everybody there was convinced and Messi’s father became annoyed as the negotiation carried on. That was until a fateful meeting between Carles Rexach, the club’s sports director, and agents Horacio Gaggioli and Josep Minguella on December 14, 2000, at a tennis club in Barcelona.
To confirm the club’s interest, Rexach went for the napkin and wrote in blue ink that he agreed, “under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi, provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.”
A official contract would later be drawn up, but Argentine agent Gaggioli kept the placeholder agreement for over 25 years before deciding to sell.