A napkin on which Messi wrote a promise to sign Argentina soccer superstar Lionel Messi to Barcelona at the age of 13 has been put up for auction at Bonhams, the auction house that specialises in tablecloths and other items.

To the untrained eye it looks like just a napkin, but Bonhams is officially expecting it to fetch $380,000, with a maximum of $635,000, and the auction house’s specialist in books and manuscripts said it “could well be predicted to go even higher than that.” It’s being put on display to generate interest ahead of the opening of bidding on March 18.

The tale of the napkin has been told many times before: With Messi’s father growing frustrated with the dragging negotiations, the fateful meeting took place on December 14, 2000, at a tennis club in Barcelona between Barcelona’s sporting director Carles Rexach and agents Josep Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli.

At the meeting, Rexach reached for a napkin to indicate the club’s interest in Messi and wrote in blue pen: “Under my responsibility, we will sign the player Lionel Messi, on the condition that we comply with the agreed amount, regardless of any objections.” A formal contract was then drawn up, but Gaggioli has kept the provisional contract napkin for nearly 25 years and has now decided to put it up for sale.

Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS), played for Barcelona until 2021, winning 10 league titles with the club and scoring 474 league goals, the club’s all-time leader.

The footage was taken on the 5th. (c)AFP