Messi's first contract with Barcelona was signed on a napkin, now it's up for auction

London: The napkin that was used as Lionel Messi’s first contract paper with Barcelona is up for auction with a starting price of 300,000 pounds (USD 379,000). British auction house Bonhams is selling the napkin in an online auction from March 18-27 on behalf of Horacio Gaggioli, an agent from Messi’s home country of Argentina who was part of the deal.

The napkin, bearing the date December 14, 2000, bears the signatures of Gaggioli, another agent, Josep Maria Minguella and Barcelona’s then-sporting director, Carles Rexach, who met at a tennis club in Barcelona.

It outlines an agreement in principle to sign Messi and was intended to reassure his father, Jorge Messi, that the deal would go through. A more formal and detailed contract with the club followed soon after.