The secrets of Barca starlet Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal (13 July 2007) has already made Barça history. The mere fact of training with the first team at the age of 15 and being called up at this age, as a second year Cadete, make him an unprecedented case at the Blaugrana club.

The 15-year-old can make history by being the youngest player to play for the first team.

He can surpass precedents such as those of Messi, Bojan and Babangida, who made their debuts at the age of 16.

We are going to discover some of the curiosities and anecdotes from his short career as a footballer...

Name

Lamine Yamal is a compound name. By mistake, it has sometimes been understood that Yamal is his surname, but it is not. It was the same with Luis Enrique Martínez, for example. His full name is Lamine Yamal and the surnames are Nasraoui Ebana.

Origins

He was born in Esplugues de Llobregat, although he grew up in Mataró and also lived in Granollers. He currently lives in La Masia. His father is Moroccan and his mother is from Ecuatorial Guinea. So far he has played with the Spanish national team, but Morocco has already tried to see if they can lure him.

Character

In La Masia they speak of him as a shy, correct, centred boy who goes relatively unnoticed because of his way of being. His studies are up to date and the educators are satisfied with him. The only blemish was with the national team when he committed an act of indiscipline, with two other teammates (from Madrid and Atlético), for which he was punished with four matches without playing with the Juvenil A team. He was also suspended from Julen Guerrero's U17 squad. The player accepted his mistake, accepted the punishment and has returned to the first team.

Precedents

Babangida was until now the youngest player to participate in a friendly, against Apeldoorm in Holland in a summer training camp with Van Gaal. He was 16 years old. The same age that Leo Messi made his debut in a friendly against Porto or Bojan Krkic did the same against the Egyptian Al-Ahly. None of them had trained with the first team at the age of 15.

Messi-style jumps

Lamine has always been ahead of his age. After five seasons in seven-a-side, he moved on to 11-a-side, alternating between Infantil B and A. The pandemic caught him in the middle and he spent almost a year without playing because the boys were confined. As an Infantil he moved on to Cadete A and as a cadet he went straight to Juvenil A. Overall, he only played two and a half seasons in 11-a-side football before making it to the first team. Not even Leo Messi had achieved this.

Compared to Rivaldo or De la Peña

Not to mention Messi, which are big words, the Barça youth academy specialists in his early days saw many similarities with Rivaldo, because he was left-footed and had the precision the Brazilian had. As time went by, impossible passes like those made by Iván de la Peña were discovered in him. Nowadays, he is a footballer who maintains that magic as a passer, but with the added bonus of not losing almost any ball. This is his great virtue.

He plays on the right flank with his left foot or as a false centre forward. He is more of a passer than a dribbler, although he has a good one on one ability. Physically he can still develop more and exploit his strength or speed.

In the hands of Jorge Mendes

His current agent is the famous Jorge Mendes. The change is recent as until now Ivan de la Peña was handling his affairs. Mendes is the one who has to finalise his professional contract at the age of 16 and, given his good relationship with Joan Laporta's board, an agreement is expected with Barca.