Lionel Messi’s Iconic Napkin Sells for $965,000 at Auction: Moments of Glory
The napkin that famously sealed Lionel Messi’s move to Barcelona has been auctioned for an astounding $965,000, according to British auction house Bonhams.
The buyer’s premium, or a portion of the transaction price that remains unknown, covers the online auction’s administrative costs.
Nearly twenty-five years ago, at a tennis club in Barcelona, a napkin was scrawled with a tentative agreement to sign the then-13-year-old Messi. Not long later, the club and I signed a more official and comprehensive contract.
The buyer’s premium, or a portion of the transaction price that remains unknown, covers the online auction’s administrative costs.
According to Bonhams, Horacio Gaggioli, an agent involved in the transaction who is from Messi’s native Argentina, was the one bidding.
Written in blue ink, the contract language was meant to ensure Jorge Messi, the teen’s father, that the trade would proceed. The impasse with Barcelona over negotiations had led to Jorge Messi threatening to send his son back to Argentina.
The napkin, which has the date December 14, 2000, is signed by three people: Gaggioli, Josep Maria Minguella, another agent, and Carles Rexach, Barcelona’s sporting director at the time. Rexach and Gaggioli met at a tennis club.
When Rexach asked for paper, the waitress gave him an empty napkin. At the outset, the cost was 300,000 pounds (about USD 379,000).
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Messi came to Barcelona at the age of 13 to play in its youth teams, and he stayed for almost 20 years. He played for the main squad for 17 seasons after making his first-team debut in 2004. He was a key player in the team’s four Champions League championships and ten Spanish League crowns.
Messi moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in the summer of 2021. Since then, he has joined Inter Miami.
