Napkin containing Messi's first transfer agreement sold for 890,000 euros

The napkin that served as the document for Lionel Messi's first transfer to FC Barcelona has found a buyer at auction for 890,000 euros.

According to DW Turkish, the Bonhams auction house, which described the napkin in question as 'one of the most important documents in the history of world football,' had started the bidding at 300,000 pounds.

Auction house official Ian Ehling stated, "Yes, it is a napkin. But it is the famous napkin at the beginning of Lionel Messi's career. It changed the life of Messi and the future of FC Barcelona, and it enabled billions of fans around the world to experience some of the most magnificent moments in football."

SIGNATURE ON A NAPKIN ON JUNE 14, 2000

Carles Rexach, who was the sporting director of the historic Spanish club FC Barcelona at the time, wrote a few sentences on the napkin sold at auction at a restaurant in Argentina on June 14, 2000, expressing the club's intention to sign the then 13-year-old Messi, and signed it.

Lionel, who was only 1.40 meters tall at the time and suffered from a growth hormone deficiency, needed to undergo hormone treatment. There were many in Barcelona who were skeptical about the transfer of this skinny boy who was born and raised in the city of Rosario. Ultimately, Lionel Messi, who joined the Catalan team's youth academy and rose through the ranks to the first team, had a tremendous career that peaked with the World Cup he lifted in 2022. Lionel Messi, who was named world footballer of the year eight times, won 35 trophies with FC Barcelona, where he scored 672 goals.After FC Barcelona fell into such deep debt that it could no longer keep Messi, who had become an icon of the club, the Argentine superstar transferred to the French team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the summer of 2021, and after playing there for two seasons, he signed with the US Major League Soccer team Inter Miami in 2023.

Bonhams reported that the napkin sold at auction was previously held by football agent Horacio Gaggioli, who brokered Messi's transfer in 2000, and that the proceeds would include the auction house's commission.

News Source: 12punto