The napkin on which Lionel Messi signed his first contract with FC Barcelona in 2000 fetched £762,000 (about €890,240) at an auction in London on Friday, auction house Bonhams reported.
"Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi’s career,” Ian Ehling, head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, said in a press release.
“It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of soccer to billions of fans around the globe,” Ehling added.
On 14 December 2000, FC Barcelona’s Sports Director, Carles Rexach, hastily drafted a letter of intent, spanning around ten lines, on a napkin to clinch a deal with Messi, then aged 13.
The Argentine football star subsequently won 35 titles with Barça, including four Champions Leagues (2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015) and 10 Spanish championships. He received the Ballon d’Or eight times and claimed the World Cup in 2022 with Argentina.
After a stint with Paris Saint-Germain (2021-2023), he now plays for Inter Miami in the US Major League Soccer.
