The used napkin which contains the guarantee of Lionel Messi’s contract with FC Barcelona will be up for auction soon.

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The serviette might look like just another used napkin. However, it might fetch $635,000 in the auction, as it records the promise of a contract made to soccer legend Lionel Messi when he was 13.

Ahead of the bidding on 18 March, the napkin, placed under the title “The World’s Most Famous Napkin,” has been displayed in New York to gather interest in the soccer memorabilia. The estimated selling price of the soccer is between $380,000 and $635,000. However, Ian Ehling, the head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, says, “I expect it to sell for much more.”

Ehling expectations aren’t unrealistic, as Messi’s previously used items have exceeded predictions. In December 2024, a set of six shirts worn by Messi during Argentina’s victorious Qatar World Cup campaign in 2022 was auctioned for $7.8 million at Sotheby’s.

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Messi’s napkin story has been told several times in his profiles. Messi, who now plays for Inter Miami, is considered one of the greatest soccer players in history.

Lionel Messi was born in 1987 into a working-class family in Rosario, about 300 kilometres north of Buenos Aires. The football club Barcelona spotted Messi when he was just 13. 

However, not everyone at Barca was convinced. They kept dragging the deal, which made Messi’s father impatient. On 14 December 2000, a fateful meeting occurred between Carles Rexach, Barca’s sporting director, and agents Josep Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli at the Barcelona tennis club. 

Rexach confirmed the club’s interest by reaching out for the napkin and writing on it with blue ink, “under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi, provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.”

Gaggioli held on the piece for almost 25 years until deciding to sell it. Messi’s formal contract was drawn up later, but this napkin was the springboard to greatness for FC Barcelona. 

Lionel Messi emerged victorious in the Spanish league ten times with Barcelona, becoming its all-time top scorer with 474 goals. He played with Barca until 2021.

“The inception of Messi’s career is documented here. It’s just incredible,” said Ehling. After New York, the napkin will be on show in Paris and London until the auction. It will be sold during an online auction between 18 and 27 March with a starting price of over $380,000.

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