Barcelona wonderkid 'is going to reach Mbappe's level'
Tom Weber
- Updated: 2 Oct 2023 21:57 BST
- 4 min read
Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal has been tipped to reach the level of Kylian Mbappe by a former LaLiga manager.
The newly-minted Spain international has broken several age-related records since making his Barcelona debut at the end of last season, aged just 15. Not only has the now-16-year-old broken records, but he has actually shown himself to already be an utterly exceptional player who performs way beyond his tender years.
The youngster was thrust into the Blaugrana side to start this campaign and impressed. More recently, head coach Xavi has opted to be a bit more cautious with the wonderkid - perhaps to avoid a situation akin to that of Pedri, who has had persistent fitness issues ever since being overburdened when he first burst onto the scene.
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Nevertheless, Yamal was again in the starting eleven against Sevilla at the weekend and produced another outstanding display, which culminated in him forcing Sergio Ramos - for whom he was a mascot once in 2016 - to score an own goal that handed Barcelona a hard-fought win.
Ronaldo, Mbappe comparisons
While Yamal has frequently been compared to Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi, former Celta Vigo and Swansea boss Carlos Carvalhal believes that his rise to prominence is more like Cristiano Ronaldo's and he is convinced the youngster could reach the level of Kylian Mbappe.
“When he starts," he told Sport, "he does very well and when he gets ten minutes, he does too. It reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo’s process with Ferguson at Manchester United. This is a very important process for his growth and Xavi is doing a phenomenal job."
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"He has tremendous potential and, if he continues like this, he’s going to be at Mbappe's level. Beware of young players and the path they take, although it doesn’t seem to be the case with Lamine. He is at a club that knows how to take care of its players, knows how to manage them."
