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La Liga

Napkin used by Barcelona to sign Messi sold for nearly $1 million

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A signed and framed napkin on which soccer club Barcelona promised to sign a 13-year-old Lionel Messi is displayed at the Bonhams auction house in London, Britain May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Will Russell/File Photo

The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for 762,400 pounds ($969,000, auction house Bonhams said on Friday.

The napkin was signed in December, 2000 by Barca’s former sporting director Carles Rexach and transfer advisor Josep Minguella along with Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli over lunch at a tennis club.

Messi became one of Barcelona’s greatest players, winning over 30 trophies and leaving the Catalan club as their all-time leading scorer with 672 goals.

He also won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards for the world’s best player and led Argentina to the World Cup crown in 2022. Messi now plays for U.S. club Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

“Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi’s career,” Ian Ehling, the head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, said in a statement.

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“It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe.”

-Reuters

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

La Liga

Vinicius treble as Real Madrid return to winning ways

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Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their fourth goal and completes his hat-trick REUTERS/Susana Vera

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr scored a hat-trick to help the LaLiga champions snap a two-game winless run in all competitions with a commanding 4-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday.

The Brazilian forward opened the scoring in the 34th minute after taking a Jude Bellingham pass in his stride to beat the offside trap and firing an unstoppable strike past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.

Bellingham recovered his scoring instinct by netting his first goal of the season with a brilliant finish eight minutes later, lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper to extend Real’s lead.

Vinicius wrapped up the home side’s win with strikes in the 61st and 69th minutes, helping second-placed Real climb to 27 points, six behind leaders Barcelona. Osasuna are fifth on 21 points.

-Reuters

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La Liga

Iheanacho Glad to Open Goal Account at Sevilla 

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Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho has expressed delight after opening his goal-scoring account for Sevilla.

The Nigerian striker, Iheanacho, bagged a brace for the club in a dominant second-half display as Sevilla cruised to a 3-0 victory over Las Rozas in their Copa del Rey opener at Dehesa de Navalcarbón on Wednesday night.

Reflecting on his performance, Iheanacho expressed satisfaction with breaking his goal drought for Sevilla.

“I’m very happy to have scored my first goal for this club,” Iheanacho said via El Sevillista.

“It’s great for my confidence and that of the team, which hopefully will finish in the top six.”

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Speaking ahead of their La Liga clash against Real Sociedad, Iheanacho said: “I hope we win. We want to win at the Sanchez-Pizjuan, and the support of the fans will be important.”

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La Liga

Fraudster dupes Barcelona of €1million!

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A conman, who pretended to be a lawyer working with Robert Lewandowski's agent, managed to convince Barcelona to transfer €1million into a Cypriot bank account Photo: Bagu Blanco. Source: UGC

Barcelona fell victim to a €1 million scam after being deceived by a fraudster posing as a representative of Robert Lewandowski’s agent.

Lewandowski, who joined the Catalan giants from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022 for an initial fee of €45 million), has proven his value on the pitch, netting 71 goals in 106 appearances.

However, behind the scenes, the club faced a significant issue, as the fraudster exploited the high-profile transfer to swindle the Catalan giants.

Following the transfer deal, Barcelona were contacted by someone claiming to be working with Robert Lewandowski’s agent, Pini Zahavi, who demanded €1 million be sent to a Cypriot bank account.

The fraudster, using the false identity of “Michael Hermanus Gerardus Demon,” pretended to be Lewandowski’s lawyer and persistently pressured the club until they agreed to the payment.

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Barcelona wired the funds to an account at Banc de Xipre, but the bank’s compliance department flagged the transaction as suspicious.

According to an investigation by Cadena SER, the fraudster had no prior banking history with the institution and was asked to verify their identity.

When Barcelona reached out to Zahavi, Lewandowski’s agent he denied any knowledge of the fraudulent individual, leading the bank to freeze the funds.

The fraudster, ‘Mr. Demon’ later escalated the pressure on Barcelona, threatening to report them to UEFA if they didn’t pay and demanding an additional €250,000 for silence.

Fortunately, Barcelona managed to recover part of the money from the Cypriot bank, though no criminal investigation has been launched as the club has not filed a formal complaint.

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Barcelona confirmed to Cadena SER that they were the target of an attempted fraud, which has led them to strengthen their anti-fraud protocols.

-MSN

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