The napkin on which Messi's first "contract" with FC Barcelona was signed was auctioned off for a huge sum
Kyiv • UNN
The napkin on which 13-year-old Lionel Messi signed his first contract with FC Barcelona in 2000 was sold at auction for £762,400.
The napkin that started Lionel Messi's career at Barcelona was sold at auction for almost more than 760 thousand pounds. This was reported by UNN with reference to the international auction house Bonhams.
Details
The napkin, which FC Barcelona pledged to buy for Lionel Messi, who was 13 years old at the time, was sold at auction for £762,400.
It is a "handwritten document signed by (Carles Rexach, Josep Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli) in Spanish on a standard Spanish napkin, committing FC Barcelona to sign 13-year-old Lionel Messi, as amended," Bonhams said.
Context
In 2000, Lionel Messi, then 13 years old, was on trial at FC Barcelona, but the process of obtaining an official contract stalled, frustrating his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, who threatened to take his son to other clubs. Sensing the urgency, Carles Rexach, then Barcelona's sporting director, took an unconventional step: meeting with Messi's agents at a tennis club, Rexach asked the waiter for a 16.5 cm by 16.5 cm napkin on which he scribbled the terms of the Argentine's contract. The napkin was kept for all these years and brought to the auction house by one of the three signatories, namely agent Horacio Gaggioli, who recommended the young Argentine.
HelpHelp
Messi played for Barcelona at the age of 16. He scored 672 goals in 778 games in which he played under the colors of the Catalan group.
He is considered the best player of his generation and one of the best in the history of football.
Recall
[UNN previously reported that the legendary napkin on which 13-year-old Lionel Messi signed his first contract with Barcelona in 2000 would be auctioned in March 2024with an expected price of 300,000 to 600,000 euros.
