Lamin Yamal is a teenage star who shines for Barcelona. The 16-year-old striker is compared to Messi, because he should be in school, but is already scoring for the Barça senior team.
Yamal sets records and follows Messi’s schedule, being considered one of the most talented students in the history of the club.
Yamal sets records: first in the Champions League, now in La Liga
Yamal became known to a wide audience in April 2023, when he first joined Barcelona and took to the field. Then Catalan coach Xavi highly praised the 15-year-old forward:
“Believe me, Yamal has truly amazing skills. He can start a new era at this club. We are not afraid to call him because he is able to help us, even though he is 15 years old. He has a lot of strong individual qualities and talent.”
In the fall, Yamal began to join the team and set records. In early October, he became the youngest player to start a Champions League game. At the time of the match, the forward was 16 years and 83 days old. At the end of the match, Yamal ran to the toilet and did not return — his stomach hurt, which often happens during nervous tension.
In a recent round of the Spanish Championship, Yamal set a new record, becoming the youngest goal scorer in the history of La Liga. The footballer scored against Granada and started the Catalans’ comeback with the score 0:2 (it all ended in a draw).
At the same time, Yamal’s participation in the match did not come as a surprise. This season he has played nine games for Barcelona in the Spanish Championship, providing two assists.
Why is Yamal called the new Messi?
Yamal is not ethnically Spanish: his father is from Morocco, his mother is from Guinea. But the boy grew up in Mataro, a suburb of Barcelona, where from the age of 5 he attended La Masia, the Barcelona academy.
From an early age, Yamal stood out among his peers with his dribbling and high speed. Video clips of his goals became popular long before his debut in the senior team, as the fame of the prodigy from the Barcelona academy reached the fans:
Yamal progressed quickly, so he played for teams three to four years older. The trend has continued in adult football: at the age of 16, playing for a club of the level of Barcelona is a serious success.
Yamal plays in the attack: either in the center or on the right flank. Many people note his gorgeous left leg, in which he is similar to Messi. They are also similar in anthropometry; Yamal is also short — only 165 cm.
Messi was considered a prodigy from his youth and began playing for Barcelona early — Yamal follows the same schedule. At the same time, many note that the young forward’s style of play also strongly resembles Neymar.
Yamal decided on his sports citizenship and chose the Spanish national team, although at some point he thought about Morocco, his historical homeland.
However, Yamal is not over-praised by the leadership, because “new Messis” regularly appear all over the world and do not achieve success. Barcelona had the unsuccessful example of prodigies Ansu Fati and Boyan Krkic, so they try not to overestimate the success of Yamal, despite all his inclinations.