A napkin inscribed with the first contract of Argentina’s famous footballer Lionel Messi has been auctioned for a whopping $965,000 (approximate 26 crore and 70 lakh rupees), with bidding starting at $326,835 approximate 9 crore and 5 lakh).

Messi signed his first contract with Barcelona on December 14, 2000 when he was just 13 years old.

The napkin, inscribed in blue ink, is also signed by then-Barcelona director Carles Rexach, the club’s transfer adviser Josef Manguela and Messi’s first agent Oracho Guijoli.

The napkin was put up for online auction by London-based auction house Bonmus. Messi made his first team debut at the age of 16 and scored a record 672 goals in 778 games for the Barcelona club.

Proud agent Guijoli said in an interview, “when I was invited by Barcelona director Carles Rexach to sign the contract, due to lack of time, instead of signing a contract formally, we hurriedly wrote the contract on a napkin signed by all parties.”

Messi holds the record of scoring most goals ever in La Liga (474), the UEFA Super Cup (3) and Supercopa de España (14). He also holds the record for the most assists in football history (372).