Inter Miami No. 10 Lionel Messi smiles during the first half against CF Montréal at Saputo Stadium in Montreal, Canada on May 11.
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Inter Miami No. 10 Lionel Messi smiles during the first half against CF Montréal at Saputo Stadium in Montreal, Canada on May 11.
Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
A plain white restaurant napkin outlines the relationship between Lionel Messi, one of the world’s greatest footballers, and FC Barcelona, the Catalan club that propelled him to stardom. Agreement, which sold for £762,400 at an online auction by British company Bonhams on Friday.
The standard white wax paper dining room accessory, scrawled in blue ballpoint pen, has a starting bid of £300,000 (about $381,000).
“Yes, it’s a napkin, but it’s the famous napkin from the beginning of Lionel Messi’s career,” Ian said Elling, head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, said in the auction house’s statement about the sale. “It changed Messi’s life, changed the future of FC Barcelona and brought football’s greatest moments to billions of fans around the world.”
The famous napkin, which features a message between then-13-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona, sold at auction on Friday for the equivalent of $968,600. ) signing agreement.
Manu Fernandez/AP
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Manu Fernandez/AP
The famous napkin, which features a message between then-13-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona, sold at auction on Friday for the equivalent of $968,600. ) signing agreement.
Manu Fernandez/AP
When FC Barcelona director Carles Rexach had lunch with the free-spending Argentinian athlete, his father and two industry colleagues in the restaurant of Barcelona’s Pompeia Tennis Club, May West is only 13 years old. Rexach wrote and signed this temporary “contract” to secure the prodigal Argentinian.
The date on the napkin is December 14, 2000. the agreed amount”. Translation of writing.
That night, FC Barcelona president Joan Gaspart officially confirmed the agreement with a contract that looked more orthodox.
Messi made his professional debut in 2004 and broke FC Barcelona’s scoring record – 672 goals in 778 games. He has been named the best men’s player by FIFA a record eight times and has won numerous trophies for his club and country, including the 2022 World Cup.
Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 after a long career in Barcelona.
“Lionel Messi’s time at Barcelona was one of the most successful periods not just in the club’s history, but in the entire history of football,” UK-based coach Nicky Holland said Nicky Holender, who has coached several of Europe’s top footballers and is a former professional player in England and the United States. , like finding a sketch of the Mona Lisa on A4 paper before the original manuscript was completed.
Macy’s napkin is one of several napkins made famous by the association. Other notable items in this category include a napkin featuring former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Lipstick Kiss, which was auctioned for £2,000 in 2015, and a 1994 napkin printed with A napkin of future character sketches drawn by key members of a Northern California restaurant.
