A napkin with an unofficial inscription of Lionel Messi's first contract with Barcelona has been put up for auction.
Bonhams, a privately owned international auction house based in London, will run the auction on behalf of Argentinian player agent Horacio Gagioli until May 17th, with a starting price of 220,000 pounds (approximately $27,455,000). are doing.
The agreement was finalized on December 14, 2000, with Barcelona manager Carles Reczak keen 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.
Leczak feared the Catalan club would miss out on signing Messi, who has returned to his hometown of Rosario in Argentina.
Gaggioli said. The Athletic Last year, he revealed that he had told Leczak in December 2000 that if he could not secure a deal for Messi, he would offer the teenager to other clubs, including Real Madrid.
Leczak invited Gaggioli to dinner in Barcelona to make a final decision regarding Messi, but there was one problem. Leczak didn't have time to create or print a contract, but he needed signatures related to what would become a legally binding document.
His solution was to grab a napkin and write down the contractual language that parties would sign to indicate their legal commitments.
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The following was written on the napkin: “On December 14, 2000, in Barcelona, in the presence of Gentleman (agent Josep Maria) Minghella and Horacio (Gaggioli), FCB technical secretary Carles Rexac announced that as long as the agreed amount was maintained, This is the opinion of those who are against signing Lionel Messi.
Leczak signed the napkin along with Minghella, a football agent who has worked on several Barça contracts in the past, including Diego Maradona, and Gaggioli.
“This is one of the most thrilling items I've ever worked with,” said Ian Ehring, head of luxury books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York. “Yes, this is a paper napkin, but it is the famous napkin used by Lionel Messi at the beginning of his career.
“It changed Messi's life and the future of FC Barcelona, contributing to giving billions of fans around the world one of football's brightest moments.”
Messi made his debut for Barcelona in 2004 and scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for the club before leaving in 2021. (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)
Years later, Gaggioli commented on the incident as “a great moment”.
“That napkin broke the deadlock,” he added.
“My lawyer looked it up. The napkin had my name written on it, his name, the date, everything. It was notarized. It was a legal document.
“It will be a part of the rest of my life. The napkin will always be with me. I live in Andorra and the napkin is kept in a safe in the bank.”
On Wednesday, Minghella told Radio Catalunya that the napkin had been in his office for years and he offered Barcelona the opportunity to display it in the club's museum.
He claims he has not received a response from Barcelona and will ask his lawyer to find out who is the legal owner of the napkins and how he can prove that he legally owns them in order to put them up for sale. He claims that he intends to do so.
Minghella insists he has no intention of profiting from the napkin, but would like to see it in Barcelona's museum or sell it and donate the money to the club's foundation.
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(Pascal Le Segretin/Getty Images)
