{"id":84842,"date":"2024-01-31T18:28:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soccergator.io\/?p=33780"},"modified":"2024-01-31T18:28:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:28:40","slug":"bid-on-the-famous-napkin-that-secured-messis-transfer-to-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/bid-on-the-famous-napkin-that-secured-messis-transfer-to-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Bid on the famous napkin that secured Messi\u2019s transfer to Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get ready for a napkin to become one of the most expensive sports memorabilia auctioned off. That’s right, private British auction house Bonhams plans to host bids for Lionel Messi<\/a>‘s initial contract, as written on a restaurant napkin. Prices start off at $382,150 (\u00a3300,000).\u00a0<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/strong>\u00a0Twenty-four years ago, Messi’s father, Jorge, was on the verge of taking his then 13-year-old son back to Argentina. Jorge had grown frustrated with negotiations and contacted Barcelona<\/a>‘s sports director, Carles Rexach, to let him hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Rexach, he took prompt action. Sitting alongside Messi’s advisors Josep Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli, Messi’s agent, Rexach scripted together a rough contract on a paper napkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How a napkin sealed Messi’s fate back in 2000<\/h4>\n

\u201cThat was when, thinking on my feet, I decided everything,\u201d recalled Rexach, who inked the deal at a Barcelona tennis club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy a napkin? Because it was the only thing I had available to hand. I saw the only way to relax Jorge was signing something, giving him some proof, so I asked for a napkin from the waiter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote: \u2018In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000 and in the presence of Messrs Minguella and Horacio, Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona’s sporting director, hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi, provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.’<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Jorge that my signature was there and that there were witnesses, that with my name I would take direct responsibility, there was nothing else to talk about and to be patient for a few days because Leo could already consider himself a Barca player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaggioli properly safeguarded the napkin and stored it in a vault in Andorra, the landlocked country bordered by France<\/a> to the north and Spain<\/a> to the south.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Messi’s 1st FC Barcelona contract was signed on a napkin when he was just 13.<\/p>\n

Now it could sell for over $540K.<\/p>\n

Back in 2000, the young Messi had impressed Barcelona during a trial & the team was rushing to sign the phenom\u2026 so they could start dosing him with growth hormone.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QeetmlQLn4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Will Stern (@WillStern_) January 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n