The napkin that changed history: the paper where Messi signed his first contract with Barcelona is up for auction

The biggest football collectors are rubbing their hands at the new object they will be able to have in their showcases. It’s that the the most famous napkin in the world. Yes, it’s about the role in which Lionel Messi he signed his first contract to become a player of Barcelona and change both his career and the history of the Spanish club forever.

The British company Bonham, specialized in the sale of unique and collectible objects, will be in charge of auctioning off the legendary document signed by 13-year-old Leo. As revealed by the portal The avant-gardethe event will take place between March 18th and 27th. And taking into account its symbolic value, it is estimated that the final bid of the auction will vary from 350,000 up to 585,000 euros.

This value is highly regarded by specialists in the field of auctions. “It’s one of the most exciting objects. Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that marked the beginning of Lionel Messi’s career. “He changed Messi’s life, the future of FC Barcelona and significantly contributed to creating some of football’s greatest moments for billions of fans around the world,” said Ian Ehling, Director of Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams of New York. .

That famous napkin was signed December 14, 2000 during lunch at the restaurant The Royal Pompeian Tennis Society of Montjuïc. However, In whose hands did the paper remain? From that date the relic was carefully kept in a safe Orazio Gaggioli, Messi’s representative at the time. Now, it was the same agent who proposed it for auction, even if at the beginning his idea was different.

As curious as it may seem, the napkin never became part of the Barcelona museum. Furthermore, Gaggioli himself deemed it appropriate to deliver the relic to the Spanish team so that it could be displayed in the room dedicated exclusively to Leo’s story.

“I believe it should be there, in a preferential place next to Messi’s Ballon d’Or, given that that piece of paper is the one that changed the contemporary history of the club,” Gaggioli declared years ago. However, the representative was never able to reach an agreement with Barcelona for the change of ownership of the work.

That’s why, if he insists on staying with her again, Barcelona will have to participate as an additional bidder in the auction which will be held in March, side by side with the rest of the stakeholders. This event represents the ideal moment for the club’s fans to take ownership of one of the most important moments in its sporting history.

Although it is mainly recognized for having Leo’s signature, the napkin also bears the signature of two fundamental pieces that formalized the beginning of a long love story: Carles Rexachtechnical secretary of Barcelona who trusted in Rosario’s talent, and Josep Maria Minguellathe talent scout who is credited with discovering Messi after being tasked with overseeing Leo’s trip with his father Jorge through the Catalan city.

“In Barcelona, ​​​​on 14 December 2000 and in the presence of Messrs. Minguella and Horacio (Gaggioli), Carles Rexach, technical secretary of the FCB, undertakes under his responsibility and despite some contrary opinions to sign the player Lionel Messi as long as we respect the agreed amounts”, stated the atypical dossier that would remain in history, under the handwriting and blue pen of Rexach himself.

And yes, then, Barcelona’s board of directors was unsure whether they would pay for the medical treatment Messi needed. The doubts were generated above all by the moment of economic weakness that the institution was going through and by the strong bet that this meant trusting that little Argentine who had only been on trial for a period of two weeks, regardless of his ability with the ball under the feet. . . The rest ended up being history.