At 16, the Spanish prodigy continues his rise to the top of world football, setting new records for precocity along the way.
With his childish smile, his braces, his golden curls and above all his velvet left foot, Lamine Yamal, not yet 17 years old, made everyone agree with a refreshing insouciance. The secret ? “He plays without pressure and he has fun”sums up his teammate Pedri.
Born to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest player to play a match at a Euro, treads the German pitches as he used to tread, for entire afternoons, the asphalt of his neighbourhood of Rocafonda (Catalonia), to which he dedicates each of his goals by forming the number 304, the last three digits of his postal code, with his fingers. “He is a unique and special player. The fact that at 16 years old he is the leader of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team at the Euro speaks for itself.sums up David Villa, Spain’s all-time top scorer, in Sports worldbelieving that the talent of the young winger had not “No limits”.
Big favorite for the title of Golden Boy
Breaking records one by one for precocity (youngest player in the history of FC Barcelona, the Spanish national team, the Champions League knockout phase, etc.), Lamine Yamal is now the favorite for the Golden Boy trophy, rewarding the best young player in the world, after an exceptional season in which he carried Barça on his shoulders (50 matches, 7 goals, 10 assists). Unstoppable on his right wing, where he has settled in both club and national team without discussion, Yamal provokes, dribbles, strikes, without asking questions and makes his opponents dizzy with feints and sharp hooks.
Nobody can compare to him (Messi), especially not me, who just started.
Lamine Yamal
“As soon as I take the ball, if I see that I am in a one-on-one situation, I will always provoke the full-back because in the end it is a very psychological game and as soon as I escape him once , he gets even more scared and then I improvise everything that comes to mind.”, he explains in an interview with the daily Marca. Qualities, and an ability to get on his left foot to curl or cross to the opposite, which recall those of his idol… Lionel Messi. “He’s the best player in history and it’s incredible to be compared to him, but it’s nothing like that. No one can compare to him, especially not me, who has just started. I would like to have half of his career.”the Catalan left-hander replied to Onda Cero radio.
At Barça, which has reinforced its contract until 2026 with a clause of one billion euros and claims to reject the incredible offers from the biggest European clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Yamal is in any case following in the footsteps of the ‘Argentinian – he does even better than the latter at his age – and could even get his number 10 back next season. Before that, he has a date with history, in Germany, where he could become Sunday in the round of 16 against Georgia, the team against whom he scored his first goal with La Roja at the end of 2023 (7-1), the most young scorer in the history of a European championship.
