Napkin Used By Barcelona To Sign Messi Sold For Nearly $1 Million

The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for 762,400 pounds ($969,000), auction house Bonhams said on Friday.

In December 2000, the napkin was signed by Barcelona’s former sporting director Carles Rexach, transfer advisor Josep Minguella, and Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli during a lunch meeting at a tennis club.

Messi became one of Barcelona’s most exceptional players, winning more than 30 trophies and departing the Catalan team as their top scorer of all time, netting 672 goals.

Moreover, he also won a record eight Ballon d’Or titles as the world’s finest player and guided Argentina to victory in the 2022 World Cup. Currently, Messi is active in Major League Soccer, playing for the US-based club Inter Miami.

“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.”