Messi's first salary at Barcelona, and why his signing almost fell through

Although Lionel Messi has been with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for a year now, the history he built at Barcelona is nothing short of legendary. But there are still several secrets behind the time he was signed at the age of 12, such as the napkin that served as his first contract.

The announcement that the Argentine player had been accepted by the Culés was an unexpected surprise for Messi’s environment, because the times that Lionel Messi had traveled to Spain to try out in the youth academy was in complete secrecy. The player had even lied about being sick when he was absent from practice at Newell's Old Boys.

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In fact, Lionel Messi's arrival at Barcelona was on the verge of being frustrated after returning to Rosario, since he never received the "ok" from the directors and the call never seemed to come. However, it was the pressure exerted by the coach José María Minguella that made the club hasten to accept to receive the historic scorer. Such was the rush that Carles Rexach signed a contract on a napkin in which the club undertook to sign him and cover the hormone treatments he received to promote his growth.

Although Lionel Messi's father, Jorge Messi, wanted to ask for an amount of 600 thousand dollars when "La Pulga" played 50 games for Barça, but Soldini and Minguella agreed to accept the team's offer. The final amount was 6 thousand dollars that would be divided among the three parties once credited.