The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for £762,400 ($969,000), according to auction house Bonhams.
This napkin was signed in December 2000 by Barcelona's former sporting director Carles Rexach, transfer advisor Josep Minguella, and Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli over lunch at a tennis club.
This symbolic document marked the beginning of Messi's illustrious career with Barcelona, where he became one of the club's greatest players.
During his time with Barcelona, Messi won over 30 trophies and left as the club's all-time leading scorer with 672 goals. Additionally, he won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards and led Argentina to a World Cup victory in 2022. Messi now plays for U.S. club Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
"Yes, it's a paper napkin, but it's the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi's career," Ian Ehling, the head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, said in a statement.
"It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe."
(With Reuters inputs)
