The napkin of the first Barcelona deal that Messi unofficially signed will be sold at auction.
Bonhams, a London-based private international auction house, will conduct the auction on behalf of Argentine player agent Horacio Gaggioli from March 18 to 27, with a starting bid of £300,000 ($381,000).
The deal was agreed on December 14, 2000, with Barcelona director Carles Rexach desperate for the club to sign the then 13-year-old Messi.
Messi impressed during a two-week trial with Barcelona in September 2000, but the club was initially reluctant to sign such a young, non-European player.
Rexach fears the Catalan club will miss out on signing Messi, who has returned to his hometown of Rosario in Argentina.
Gaggioli told Competitor Last year, he informed Rexach in December 2000 that the teenager would be offered to other clubs, including Real Madrid, if they were unable to commit to signing Messi.
Rexach invited Gaggioli to dinner in Barcelona to make a final decision on Messi, but there was a problem: Rexach didn’t have time to draft or print a contract, but needed one later Signature on legally binding documents.
His solution was to write the words of the contract on a napkin and then have it signed by all parties involved to demonstrate a legal commitment.
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The napkin reads: “On December 14, 2000, in Barcelona, in the presence of gentlemen (agent Josep María) Minghella and Horacio (Gagioli), Technical Secretary Carles of FCB “Rexach has committed under his charge despite others opposing the signing of Lionel Messi as long as the agreed fee is maintained.”
Rexach signed the napkin together with football agents Minguella and Gaggioli. Minghella has been involved in a number of Barca deals in the past, including that of Diego Maradona.
“This is one of the most exciting objects I have ever handled,” said Ian Ehling, head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams in New York. “Yes, it’s a napkin, but it’s the famous napkin from the beginning of Lionel Messi’s career.
“It changed Messi’s life, changed the future of FC Barcelona and brought some of football’s greatest moments to billions of fans around the world.”
Messi made his debut with Barcelona in 2004 and scored 672 goals in 778 games for the club before leaving in 2021 (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)
Commenting on the incident years later, Gaggioli called it a “wonderful moment.”
“That napkin broke the ice,” he added.
“My lawyer read it. The napkin had everything written on it: my name, his name, the date. It was notarized. It was a legal document.
“It will be a part of me for the rest of my life. The napkin will always be with me. I live in Andorra and I keep the napkin in a bank safe.”
Minghella told Radio Catalonia on Wednesday that the napkin had been in his office for years and that he offered Barcelona the chance to display it in the club’s museum.
He claims he has received no response from Barcelona and will now ask lawyers to find out who is the legal owner of the napkin and how anyone can prove they legally own it in order to sell it.
Minghella insists he does not want to profit from the napkin, but he would rather see it in a Barcelona museum or, if it is sold, the proceeds go to the club’s foundation.
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(Pascal Le Segretan/Getty Images)
