2024-02-28 10:24:19
Lionel Messi Culture
Feeling for the ball, a paper napkin and the most important signature in life
Status: 29.02.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes
He was already 16 then: Lionel Messi
Those: El Grafico/Getty Images
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Lionel Messi played for FC Barcelona for 21 years. An unusual document shows how a football talent from Argentina came to be able to start a career at Barça in 2000.
It is the year 2000, December 14th to be precise. Josep Maria Minguella, transfer agent of FC Barcelona, Carles Rexach, sports director of the club and Horacio Gaggioli in the role of player agent and explorer met at the Pompeia tennis club to decide on the future of a boy of just 13 years old – his name is Lionel Messi. We know today: They came to an agreement.
And so an unprecedented football story began on that day, which would only end 21 years later in the same club, FC Barcelona. In the professional league since 2004, Messi has scored 672 goals in 778 competitive games and won 35 titles. A paper napkin, which has surprisingly been preserved, still bears witness to the historical moment back then; If you didn’t know their meaning, you would probably ball them up carelessly and throw them away.
Lionel Messi’s napkin contract is up for auction at Bonhams
Quelle: Bonhams
On the napkin, written in Spanish in blue ballpoint pen, is written, among other things: “In the presence of Messrs. Minguella and Horacio, Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, declares, under his responsibility and without regard to any differing opinions, that he is prepared to sign the player Lionel Messi to take, provided that we stick to the agreed sums.”
Why wasn’t the contract signed in the club office? In fact, there were those responsible who had no interest in Messi – also because he was so small. They were soon proven wrong. The 16.5 by 16.5 centimeter napkin will be available in one from March 18, 2024 Bonhams online auction offered in London. It is valued at £300,000.
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If you take a closer look at this fragile paper, images flash before your mind – of Messi, the king of dribbling. He doesn’t pass five players in a straight line, but instead winds through them with many pirouettes, one turn, two, three, through, shot and goal!
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But these pictures are almost history. Messi left his club in 2021 after 21 years and now plays for Inter Miami, David Beckham’s (senior) club. You can see how this came about in the fantastic Netflix series “Beckham”. The napkin is also a symbol of a mafia-run sport in which the teenager has become a billion-dollar stock and reports about him have recently focused more on corruption and tax evasion.
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In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
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