In March, the British auction house Bonhams will be holding an auction for a napkin that Lionel Messi signed when he was 13 years old to agree to join Barcelona. The opening offer for the napkin is expected to be 300,000.

Messi’s journey to Barcelona is a singular tale that has never been told before. When Messi was playing in Argentina in the year 2000, scouts from Barcelona noticed his brilliance and signed him. The meeting between Messi’s father Jorge and Carles Rexach, who is in charge of young recruitment for Barcelona, was arranged by Jorge. The qualities that Messi possessed left Rexach so impressed that he made the decision to sign him immediately. In order to sign him, he used a napkin from a neighboring tennis club as an impromptu contract because he did not have any other documentation.

The napkin specifies that Rexach, in his capacity as sporting director, agrees to sign Messi pending an agreed upon salary, despite the fact that there may be others who disagree with this decision. Later on, Joan Gaspart, who was serving as president at the time, ratified this agreement. A month later, Barcelona made the official signing of Messi, who was just 13 years old at the time, marking the beginning of a 20-year union.

After relocating to Barcelona with his family, Messi enrolled in the renowned La Masia youth academy at the age of 12. In addition, Barcelona paid for Messi’s therapy for a growth hormone deficiency, which his family was unable to afford before joining Barcelona. Almost immediately, Messi established himself as one of the most talented young football players in the world because to La Masia.

The 8-time Ballon d’Or winner helped Barcelona win 35 titles in 782 appearances, scoring 674 goals and cementing his status as one of the greatest players of all time.