On December 14, 2000, three men sat at a table in the Pompeya tennis club in Barcelona. The atmosphere was tense. Jorge Messi, the father of a 13-year-old Argentine prodigy, was ready to leave Spain forever.
He believed FC Barcelona was stalling. Across the table, the club’s sporting director, Carles Rexach, knew he had mere moments to save the deal. With no official stationery available, Rexach called a waiter and asked for a napkin. What he scribbled on that flimsy, disposable square of paper became one of the most significant documents in sporting history.
A Talent with a Medical Hurdle
The journey began years earlier in Rosario, Argentina. Agents had identified a young Lionel Messi as a unique talent, but he faced a significant physical obstacle. Diagnosed with a growth hormone disorder, his body could not develop properly without expensive medical intervention.
Local clubs like River Plate refused to gamble on the monthly costs. The Messi family needed a team willing to pay for the injections.
In September 2000, agents arranged a trial in Barcelona. Rexach watched the small boy play on a pitch next to the Mini Estadi. A standard walk around the 105-meter (115-yard) perimeter of a football pitch usually takes a few minutes. However, Rexach later recalled that he stood there stunned for 15 minutes. He watched the smallest player on the field control the ball with unmatched precision. He immediately told the coaches to sign the boy.
Hesitation and the Ultimatum
Despite Rexach’s conviction, the club’s board wavered. Directors debated the wisdom of signing a 13-year-old foreigner. The club faced financial instability and internal turmoil following the departure of Luis Figo. Weeks passed without a formal offer. The Messi family waited in a hotel, but their patience had run out.
By December, Jorge Messi issued an ultimatum. He informed the agents that they would return to Buenos Aires if the matter was not resolved immediately. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were monitoring the situation, ready to offer the boy a trial. The threat of Messi joining a rival was real.
The Contract on a Napkin
Rexach met with agents Josep Maria Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli at the tennis club to salvage the situation. He realized verbal assurances were no longer enough for the boy’s father. He grabbed the napkin and wrote a hasty contract in blue ink.
The text read that Rexach, under his own responsibility and regardless of dissenting opinions within the club, agreed to sign Lionel Messi provided the agreed amounts were kept. Minguella and Gaggioli signed as witnesses. This improvised document served as the moral guarantee Jorge Messi needed.
Securing the Future
That crumpled napkin prevented the Messi family from boarding a plane back to Argentina. It bridged the gap until a formal contract arrived. Barcelona eventually took charge of the hormone treatment, which cost approximately €1,000 ($1,100) per month. Lionel administered the injections into his legs every night.
Bureaucratic issues delayed his official debut until March 2001, but the agreement held firm. Today, that original napkin is stored in a bank vault in Andorra. It remains the physical proof of the moment instinct overrode bureaucracy.
On Dec 14, 2000, Barcelona’s future hung by a thread.
A desperate father was ready to leave Spain forever.
With no paper, a director grabbed a napkin to write a contract.
That scrap of paper secured a 13-year-old Lionel Messi and changed football history…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/bP8nMOFFfm
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) December 21, 2025