20 year old scrap of paper
Messi’s napkin contract brings almost 900,000 euros at auction
May 17, 2024, 10:05 p.m
An Argentine boy with stunted growth becomes the greatest footballer of his generation. Lionel Messi’s career at FC Barcelona begins with a napkin on which he wrote a declaration of intent. The scrap of paper is now going under the hammer.
A napkin that played a role in Lionel Messi’s move to FC Barcelona more than 20 years ago has been auctioned for 762,000 pounds (around 890,000 euros). It is one of the most important documents in the history of football, said the Bonhams auction house in London. The auction house had set a starting price of 300,000 pounds (around 350,000 euros) for the auction.
“Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that started Lionel Messi’s career,” explained Bonhams’ Ian Ehling. “It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona and helped give billions of fans around the world some of football’s most glorious moments.”
On December 14, 2000, FC Barcelona’s then sporting director, Carles Rexach, practically wrote down a declaration of intent to sign the then 13-year-old Messi in a few hastily scribbled lines on his napkin.
From Rosario to world footballer
At the time he was only about 1.40 meters tall, he suffered from growth disorders and needed appropriate hormone treatment. At first there was a certain amount of skepticism about signing the slight boy from Rosario, Argentina. Ultimately, Messi matured into a superstar with the Catalans, crowning his career with the World Cup triumph at the end of 2022. Messi was named world footballer a total of eight times.
With FC Barcelona he won a total of 35 titles and scored 672 goals. Because the heavily indebted club could no longer afford Messi, he had to leave in the summer of 2021 and played for Paris Saint-Germain for two years before moving to Inter Miami in the American Major League Soccer in the summer of 2023.
According to the auction house, the napkin now being auctioned was sold on behalf of the player’s agent Horacio Gaggioli, who was involved in the brokerage at the time. The price achieved includes auction fees.