Charly Rexach beams with familiarity. “I will make my mark in Barcelona’s history,” he declares. Having grown up in Pedralbes, the upscale neighborhood near Camp Nou, Rexach became a part of Barcelona at the tender age of 12. For nearly fifty years, he has been associated with the club in various capacities, from being a player for seventeen years to serving as coach, assistant coach, technical director, and presidential adviser. However, Rexach believes that his place in Barcelona’s history is ensured not by these roles, but by the day he signed Lionel Messi – on a napkin. At least, that’s how the story goes.
Horacio Gaggioli possesses the napkin, keeping it hidden away, though there have been suggestions to display it in Barcelona’s museum. Occasionally, he retrieves it, handling it with utmost care. On Sunday, 17 September 2000, Gaggioli awaited Messi’s arrival at El Prat airport in Barcelona. Messi, a thirteen-year-old at the time, was traveling from across the Atlantic with his father, Jorge, and Fabián Soldini, the player’s agent and Gaggioli’s partner. Together with Josep Maria Minguella, they had orchestrated a trial opportunity for Messi at Barcelona.
Minguella informed Rexach, who was Barcelona’s technical director, that this young player had the potential to be like Diego Maradona. Minguella had personal experience with Maradona, as he had brought him to Barcelona two decades ago. They decided to accommodate Messi at the Plaza Hotel, located at the base of Montjuïc, where the Olympic stadium was situated. The next day, Messi trained with Barcelona’s youth team, alongside players like Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. Despite his height of less than five feet, Messi remained silent and inconspicuous. When the team saw him in the changing room, they were amazed by his small stature; however, when they saw him on the field, they were astonished by his incredible skills.
On that particular day, Rexach was attending the Olympic Games in Sydney. Messi’s performance left a lasting impression on him, so he decided to stay and wait for Rexach’s return. A match was scheduled for early October to ensure that the technical secretary could witness Messi’s talents firsthand. As always, Rexach was late and arrived during the ongoing game. He leisurely strolled around the pitch, eventually finding a spot behind the goal and later on one of the benches. It took him several minutes to complete his walk, but by the time he reached his destination, Rexach had made up his mind: “We must sign this kid immediately.” “Within two minutes, I knew,” remarks Rexach, confidently adding, “Anyone would have said the same.”
Rexach begins to explain the circumstances surrounding Messi’s arrival at Barcelona and how it all feels so natural now, but it was far from simple in the past. It was the summer when Joan Gaspart became president, and Barcelona was in crisis with Luís Figo leaving for Real Madrid. While Messi was seen as a special player with potential for the first team, signing a 13-year-old, especially from Argentina, was not a common practice in 2000.
Barcelona had to accommodate Messi’s father and cover the expenses of his hormone treatment, which involved daily painful injections into his legs. This treatment cost nearly $1,000 per month, and the agreed annual salary of £40,000 for Jorge Messi was considered quite high for a young player with no guarantees. Being a foreigner, Messi was not initially allowed to play with the Juvenil A team and was restricted to Catalan competitions. Within the team, he was often referred to as “el mudo,” meaning “the mute one.”
Messi and his family first lived in the Hotel Rallye before moving to an apartment on Gran Vía de Carlos III. From their windows, they could see the Camp Nou, only 50 yards away. However, it was never a guarantee that Messi would make it there, especially not with Barcelona. While he played, his father anxiously waited for the initial agreement to be put into action, as other clubs, including Real Madrid, had shown interest in signing Messi, according to his agents’ warnings.
According to Rexach’s later account to the sports daily AS, Leo’s father was getting angry and mentioned that Leo was leaving. On a specific date, 14 December 2000, Rexach met Minguella and Gaggioli at the Pompeia tennis club for lunch. Gaggioli informed Rexach that they would find another place to continue their discussion. In response, Rexach grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and began to write: “I, Charly Rexach, in my role as the technical secretary for FC Barcelona, despite some opposing views, make a commitment to sign Lionel Messi, provided that the agreed conditions are met.”
The focal point is the phrase “opinions against it,” which reveals dissent within the club. There were disagreements among the board members, and Gaspart was feeling the pressure as the team was struggling. The situation became so dire that fans protested at Camp Nou, demanding Gaspart’s resignation. This marked the beginning of a trophyless era for Barcelona, lasting five seasons until 2004-05, when they won their next title under new leadership and with Messi in the first team.
At that time, Messi was far from being a regular in the first team, and his Argentinean roots were not a priority for the club. However, on that fateful night, the club’s director general presented the agreement again, this time officially and on proper paper. Gaspart, annoyed by the unfair portrayal of him hindering Messi’s inclusion, adamantly asserts that the club, under his presidency, did commit to signing the player. Now, after a decade, Messi stands on the brink of becoming La Liga’s all-time leading scorer at only 27 years old.
Not everything had been resolved yet. According to Graham Hunter’s excellent book on Barcelona, Jorge Messi, Messi’s father, wrote to the club president six months later as he had not received his payment and their family situation was becoming serious. Messi’s official international transfer did not take place until August. During that summer, Messi’s mother and three siblings returned to Argentina and Leo was given the option to join them. However, he insisted on staying to pursue his dreams. In December 2001, he signed a new contract.
Progress was being made. Messi was rapidly advancing through the ranks, scoring goals at every level – from Cadete to Juvenil A, Juvenil B, Barcelona C, Barcelona B, and finally the first team. He climbed up five levels in just over a year and a half. In November 2003, Barcelona traveled to Porto for a friendly match at the newly established Estádio do Dragão. Frank Rijkaard requested some young players to complete the team, and Messi was one of them. Rijkaard recognized Messi’s immense talent, stating, “He is a boy with a lot of talent.”
His competitive debut took place on October 16, 2004, against Espanyol at Montjuïc. This was only a short distance from Plaza de España, where Messi had spent his first night in Barcelona. He entered the game in the 82nd minute, replacing Deco. The match was described by one headline paper as “not much of a derby.” When asked about the shirt he wore, Messi stated that it was for his mother in Argentina and remarked, “I will remember those 10 minutes my whole life.”
However, this significant moment went largely unnoticed at the time. An article at the bottom of page five in the Catalan sports newspaper, El Mundo Deportivo, mentioned that Messi was the youngest Barcelona player since Paulino Alcántara’s debut in 1912, but it did not receive much attention. Messi’s name on the team sheet was labeled “sc” – indicating that he had not played enough minutes to even receive a match rating. The article mentioned that he did not have much time to shine. Little did they know, this would not be the case for Messi over the next ten years.
