Fifteen-year-old Lamine Yamal became the youngest player in the history of La Liga in Blaugrana Shirts when he made his debut against Real Betis on 29th April. He is the second youngest in all competitions. In a statement, the club said he was next to Albert Almasque who was only 13 when he played for Copa Mayaca in 1902.

Barcelona coach Xavi spoke highly about Yamal. He even compared him with Lionel Messi. The legendary Argentine also made his debut for Barcelona as a teenager. Yamal came as a substitute against a 10-man Betis and almost scored a goal. His shot was saved by goalkeeper Rui Silva. 

Coach Xavi said, “I told him to try things and just image the boy did it at the age of 15.” 

Yamal was spotted at the age of five when he joined Barcelona. Son of a Moroccan father and a Guinean mother, Yamal was brought up in Mataro, a suburb of Barcelona. He always played with the senior groups. He represented the u-16 group only at the age of 13 years. 

In the summer of 2022, Yamal skipped an entire age group to be registered in the u-19 squad of Barcelona. He drew attention of his coach for the first time with his eye-catching performance in Juvenile-A, the youth team of Barcelona. Coach Oscar Lopez, being impressed by Yamal’s performance, highlighted his quality. This made Xavi call Yamal to practice with the first team. 

Winger Yamal is stronger in his left foot. Barcelona has tried him in different positions but he is best from the wings. Yamal is an excellent dribbler and has great shooting ability. He has a good vision in the final third. Yamal is yet to make a proper entry into the first team. He is regularly playing for Juvenile-A where he scores or assists regularly. 

Yamal seems to have only disadvantage so far that is his 5 feet 5 inches height only. At the time the young talent was compared to Messi. His body feints, run and ability to find tiny spaces were similar to the Argentine legend. But now he is mostly being compared to another great striker Mohammed Salah. Yamal loves to go toward a goal and often finds short passes from the edge of the box. He has a magical left foot, like Messi and Salah too. 

However, the Spanish football specialists say Yamal has to change his temperament. He gets over-excited and loses coolness. He had to pay for it as he was ruled out of the Spanish youth national team following a controversy with teammates. For this Barcelona also took disciplinary action against him. 

In spite of this Xavi called him on the match day against Atletico, but he was in the reserves. He will again be with the squad when Barcelona meets Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.