DUBAI: The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign 13-year-old Lionel Messi will be auctioned in March for a starting price of 300,000 pounds ($381,000), British auction house Bonhams said on Wednesday.
The napkin was signed in December, 2000 when Carles Rexach, then Barca’s sporting director, agreed with agent Horacio Gaggioli to recruit the Argentine teenager who went on to become the club’s all-time top scorer.
The pivotal moment in football history happened after Rexach and Gaggioli met to have lunch after Messi’s father Jorge had become concerned at the lack of response following his son’s initial trials at the Spanish club.
“In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000 and in the presence of Messrs Minguella and Horacio, Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona’s sporting 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,” is written on the napkin from the Pompeia tennis club.
The agreement, ratified by then club president Joan Gaspart, was formally signed that same night and a month later Barcelona completed the signing of Messi to begin his 20-year stay at the Catalan club.
The eight-times Ballon d’Or winner helped Barca win 35 titles, making a record 782 appearances and scoring 674 goals.
Napkin used to sign 13-year-old Messi for Barcelona goes to auction
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Napkin used to sign 13-year-old Messi for Barcelona goes to auction
- The napkin was signed in December 2000
- Carles Rexach, then Barca’s sporting director, agreed with agent Horacio Gaggioli to recruit the Argentine teenager
Undav scores again as Stuttgart sink Frankfurt to go third
- A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead
- The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund
BERLIN: Nikolas Nartey nabbed a late winner and Deniz Undav continued his hot form as Stuttgart beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 at home on Tuesday to climb to third in the Bundesliga.
A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead but Ermedin Demirovic pounced on a goalkeeping error and Undav’s deflected effort helped Stuttgart wrestle back control of the match before half-time.
Bundesliga debutant Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab brought Frankfurt level but Nartey’s 87th-minute strike, his first Bundesliga goal, put the hosts back in front.
The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen stretching their unbeaten run to 10 league games.
Frankfurt have struggled this season after last campaign’s third-placed finish, their best result in three decades.
Kristensen connected with a corner to put his side in front after five minutes, but Frankfurt ushered Stuttgart back into the game when goalkeeper Kaua Santos spilled a routine catch, allowing Demirovic to slice home.
Undav put his side in front 10 minutes before the break, wrong-footing the Frankfurt defense and blasting a low shot which took a thick deflection into the bottom corner.
Undav, who has nine goals and two assists in his past eight league games, forced two desperation saves from Santos and flashed just wide of the post in the second half.
Amaimouni-Echghouyab levelled things up just three minutes after coming on but his effort was bested by another debut goal minutes later, when Nartey tapped in from close range.
Elsewhere, the match between Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen was postponed just two hours before kick-off, the third Bundesliga game canceled in the space of a week due to wild winter weather across northern Germany.
