The handwritten restaurant napkin from the year 2000 was the starting point for an agreement between the then 13-year-old Messi and FC Barcelona.
Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami smiles in the game against CF Montréal during the first half at Saputo Stadium on May 11 in Montreal, Canada.Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami smiles in the game against CF Montréal during the first half at Saputo Stadium on May 11 in Montreal, Canada., one of the world's greatest soccer players, and FC Barcelona, the Catalonian club that propelled him to stardom, sold at an online auction by the U.K.
The starting bid for the standard, white, waxy-papered restaurant accessory scrawled all over in blue ballpoint pen was 300,000 pounds . "Yes, it's a paper napkin, but it's the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi's career," said Ianfrom the auction house about the sale."It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe.
The napkin is dated Dec. 14, 2000. It says that FC Barcelona's 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," according to a translation of the writing.Messi made his professional competitive debut in 2004 and went on to break FC Barcelona's goal scoring record — 672 goals in 778 games.
"Lionel Messi's time at Barcelona was one of the most successful in not just the club's history but in total football history," said, a U.K.-based coach to several top European soccer players and former professional player in England and the U.S."In the world of high-stakes football with all the mega-agents, writing a contract on a napkin is so iconic. It's like finding a sketch ofMessi's napkin is one among several napkins made famous by association.
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