THE NAPKIN AGREEMENT THAT BROUGHT LIONEL MESSI TO BARCELONA. Manuscript document signed ('Carles Rexach', 'Josep Minguella,' and 'Horacio Gaggioli'), in Spanish, on a standard Spanish napkin committing FC Barcelona to sign 13-year old Lionel Messi, 165 x 165 mm, blue ink on a standard Spanish waxy napkin. Laminated, framed. Provenance: property of Horacio Gaggioli. THE ORIGIN OF A LEGEND – THE SIGNED NAPKIN SECURING THE FUTURE OF THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER OF ALL TIME. When 13-year old Leo Messi arrived in Barcelona from Argentina in September 2000, Barcelona sporting director Carles Rexach recognized his talent in less than 5 minutes. 'We have to sign him,' he told his coaches. Although its amazing to think now, resistance to the signing within the Barca board left Messi and his father still waiting in mid-December. With Messi threatening to return to Argentina and possibly Real Madrid, Rexach, meeting at Gaggioli's Pompeia tennis club with agents Minguella and Gaggioli himself, took matters into his own hands and agreed immediately to commit to signing Messi. With no paper available, Rexach asked the waiter for paper, and was given instead a napkin on which he wrote the words that would create one of the most important relationships in the history of sport. Messi would go on to become the greatest player of all time, and his Barcelona teams of the 2010s, some of the greatest teams of all time. [In translation:] 'In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000 and 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.' Messi, now widely regarded as the greatest player ever to play the game, would win his first Ballon D'Or, the most prestigious award in soccer given to the year's best player, in 2009, beginning an unprecedented string of four straight wins, and now stands with 8 Ballon d'Ors, 3 more than any other player in history and one more than the combined awards to players from any other country. Between 2004 and 2021 Messi would score 672 goals for Barcelona, the most of any player for a single club, and set all-time records for goals scored in La Liga (474 goals) and for any player in a single calendar year (91 goals in 2012). Astoundingly, he also has more recorded assists than any player in history (378). He has led his teams to a jaw-dropping 44 championship trophies in his storied career, including Argentina's run to a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and culminating finally in Argentina's memorable 2022 World Cup victory, the crowning glory in a career full of accolades. In the course of two decades, Messi's enormous skills as both playmaker and pure scorer, particularly with his Barcelona sides from 2009-2015, changed the face of the sport forever. But in December 2000, none of this was a foregone conclusion. Messi was very small, very talented, but there was no guarantee that he would succeed. FC Barcelona was in turmoil and the board was more concerned with righting a floundering first team than with taking on an undersized 13-year-old. With incredible foresight and acumen, Rexach went out on a limb to sign Messi. Rexach did have the support of team President Joan Gaspart, who based on Rexach's long-standing relationship with Barcelona and knowledge of the game and the players, had essentially given him carte-blanche in the team's dealings with the Messis. According to Gaspart, '... at some point Charly told me there was an exceptional player who we could not let escape. 'This is very simple - whatever you say, goes,' I said. He said, 'Are you in agreement about setting up special accommodation for him?' I said, 'Do you think he is something out of the ordinary?' 'Yes.' 'Well , go ahead' (Balague, Messi, Revised ed, London, 2023). But the board of directors of FC Barcelona were far from unanimous in their support for the signing of the undersized and unproven foreigner, who was coming with so many strings. Not only did Barcelona have to buy Messi, but they also had to find his father Jorge Messi a job, as well as agree to pay for treatments necessary for young Leo to reach his potential height. Furthermore, the Messis insisted that Leo not stay with the Barca youth team at La Masia, but instead would live with his family in a house provided by the team. The 'special accommodations' were unheard of in the history of soccer. When Messi's first official contract was presented to the board, one director, furious that the board had not been consulted, expressed his objections by tearing up the contract, already signed by the lawyers for both sides and the Barca Vice President (see Balague). But Rexach, with extraordinary resolve, and 'under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions,' came to agreement with the family and their agents, forging the most fruitful relationship in the history of football, possibly in the history of any sport. With Barcelona, Messi recorded 35 championships, including 10 Ligas, 7 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 European Super Cups, and 3 World Club Championships. His 17 years with the club represent an unparalleled record of successes, both as an individual and, importantly, for the team. The napkin that brought Messi to Barcelona represents a near mythological beginning to what has been a fairy tale career. From his humble origins in Rosario, the undersized youth of prodigious gifts, signed on a napkin, rises to become the greatest player the sport has ever seen, culminating with his 2022 World Cup victory, finally capturing the one prize that had eluded him throughout an illustrious career. The napkin that began it all is surely one of the most important pieces of football history, as well as in the history of sport. References: Balague, Guillem. Messi: The Definitive Biography, 2023; Hunter, Graham. Barca, The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, 2016; Lowe, Sid. Fear and Loathing in La Liga., 2014; Marsden, Sam, with Rexach, Gaggioli, Minguella, and Gaspart. 'Barcelona, Lionel Messi and the napkin: Oral history of his transfer, arranged 20 years ago,' ESPN, December 20, 2020 [accessed January 9, 2024], www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37609629/oral-history-transfer-arranged-20-years-ago; Lowe, Sid. 'Lionel Messi: how Argentinian teenager signed for Barcelona on a serviette,' Guardian, October 15, 2014 [accessed January 9, 2024], https://www.theguardian.com//football/blog/2014/oct/15/lionel-messi-barcelona-decade. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing