Lamine Yamal: Barcelona’s 'next Messi' has the world at his feet
Neel Shelat
- Updated: 6 Oct 2023 10:56 CDT
- 7 min read
While financial issues continue to plague Barcelona, it is a good job that they still have one of the best youth academies in the world which continues to develop world-class talent. Perhaps one of the brightest starlets to come out of La Masia is someone who has just burst onto the scene, Lamine Yamal.
The departure of Ousmane Dembele coupled with Raphinha’s red card suspension fast-tracked Lamine Yamal’s pathway to the Barcelona first team, paving the way for him to play an integral role in the very early stages of their season.
He made his debut last term aged just 15 years old when he became the youngest player to appear for Barcelona in a senior match, which then enabled him to become the youngest La Liga champion when Barcelona clinched the title at the end of the season. The records would keep tumbling as he became the youngest starter for Barcelona earlier this term against Cadiz, after which his performances earned him a call-up to the senior Spanish national team.
READ: Could Messi return to Barcelona on loan in January?
Of course, he had featured on numerous occasions for Spain’s youth teams, including this summer when he represented them in the U17 Euros. Although they lost in the semi-finals, he was the joint top-scorer of the tournament and quite clearly the best player on the pitch whenever he played. His talent and potential was quite clear at this stage, so the only question was how he would react to the big step up to senior football.
The answer is that he has quite literally made it look like child’s play, as he also became the youngest player to feature for the Spanish national team and their youngest-ever goalscorer in the past international window when he came on off the bench against Georgia. Naturally, there is quite a lot of hype surrounding him at the moment, so let us take a closer look at Lamine Yamal to try and understand just how good he already is.
Seamless adaptation to senior football
As aforementioned, Lamine Yamal quite clearly showed that he was far too good for his age level at the most recent U17 Euros, at which his potential was quite clear for the world to see. He was the spark in the Spanish side, almost single-handedly powering their attack on many occasions in a relatively free role starting on the right wing. He was making the young opposition defenders look rather foolish, but the question was how he would fare against bigger, stronger and faster senior opponents.
The answer was still incredibly well. Lamine Yamal did a fantastic job of playing to his strengths in La Liga without being fazed by the big stage. Of course, he was not going to outmuscle his opponents, but that is not what his game is about. He could still use his world-class ball control and one-on-one dribbling ability to turn them inside out and get past them, which is exactly what he has done.
Equally impressive, though, has been the fact that he has adapted to his role for Barcelona so quickly and so well. While he had the freedom to almost do whatever he wanted for the youth teams, the 16-year-old winger has had to confine himself to a more positionally restricted role.
The right winger in Barcelona’s current setup under Xavi is told to always stay high and wide, where he can often be found isolated against the opposition full-back/wing-back. Lamine Yamal has done just that, as his touchmap shows:
By staying in such positions, the right winger is often able to isolate the opposition right-back/right wing-back and take him on one-on-one. This plays to Lamine Yamal’s strengths, who has already shown his great take-on skills with over three attempts per 90 at a success rate of over 63% on average so far this season.
Additionally, Lamine Yamal is also a great carrier of the ball as he not only always looks to bring it forward but also likes to cut inside and get closer to the goal.
After getting into dangerous positions in the final third, youngsters can often be guilty of trying too much by attempting to do it all themselves. Lamine Yamal, however, has shown good decision-making so far, using his magical left foot not just to shoot but also to cross, as he did to register an assist in La Liga.
Although he is yet to score in a competitive match for Barcelona, that day surely is not far away because he has an excellent left-footed curler to the far corner in his locker. He gave the world a glimpse of it with his goal for Spain:
Mejor no queremos saber qué estabais haciendo vosotros con 16 años
¡Pero a Lamine Yamal le apetece hacer HISTORIA por partida doble esta tarde en Georgia y convertirse también en el goleador más joven en la historia de la selección!#SelecciónRTVEhttps://t.co/WDhgRQ9Rwp pic.twitter.com/IQidWwz2Ad— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) September 8, 2023
READ: Messi will sign with Barcelona in January on ONE condition
Future forecast
It is quite astonishing just how mature and well-rounded Lamine Yamal seems for someone who turned 16 just a couple of months ago, but it is important to remember that fact for other reasons too.
While it is great to see him breaking records at such a young age, Barcelona might not have wanted to use him so much in an ideal world. They would be better advised to manage his minutes much more carefully to ensure he stays injury-free at such a critical point in his career and stays that way as he grows to have a long and successful career. Pedri’s recurring hamstring issues over the last couple of years are a reminder of the consequences of getting it wrong.
Additionally, it is important to not put too much pressure on the youngster’s shoulders. It is almost natural that a left-footed dribbly right winger playing for Barcelona gets likened to Lionel Messi, but Lamine Yamal has quite a long way to go before getting there.
Even though it may seem that he is on the same course, we must remember that player development is not linear and there are a lot of tangible and intangible factors that can play a major part, so Lamine Yamal would be better off given the space to grow into his own player.
Given Barcelona’s current squad composition, the teenager should be expected to continue to see a very good deal of on-pitch action this season, but it will be crucial to rotate him well and regularly.
The level he is currently playing at has already made him a serious contender for the first-choice right-wing spot alongside Raphinha, but the likes of Ferran Torres might also have to be used as backup in what is going to be yet another hectic season.
The world is at Lamine Yamal’s feet right now, but Barcelona must take good care of him to ensure that he grows into the superstar he promises to be.
