An iconic napkin that helped launch Lionel Messi’s career has been sold for a cool £762,000 at auction.

The napkin was a makeshift contract used to secure the services of a 13-year-old Messi ahead of his move to Barcelona in 2000.

Bidders were given until May 17 to table their offers with auctioneers Bonham, who started the bidding process at £300,000.

Messi had completed a trial with the Catalan club in September 2000 but his father Jorge had become annoyed by Barcelona’s slowness in offering his son a deal.

The then Barcelona sporting director Carles Rexach took control of negotiations and grabbed a napkin from the Pompeia Tennis Club, alongside transfer adviser Josep Minguella and agent Horacio Gaggioli, who brought Messi to the club’s attention.

The napkin reads: "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."

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It was then signed by the three parties present before Barcelona president Joan Gaspart later confirmed the deal. 

Bonhams were selling on behalf of Gaggioli, with the napkin initially expected to fetch around £500,000.

But a flurry of late offers took the bidding upwards of that estimate, with a final bid of £600,000 winning the auction on Friday.

The winning buyer paid £762,400 in total, including fees, for a one-of-a-kind piece of football history.