- 16-year-old Lamine Yamal is fast becoming a Barcelona fan favourite.
- Barca ‘upset’ by Luis de La Fuente comparing him to Lionel Messi
- Listen to the latest episode of the Mail Sport podcast ” Everything starts ! »
Barcelona are ‘angry’ with Spain manager Luis de La Fuente after comparing Lamine Yamal to club legends Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona,
At just 16 years old, Yamal is fast becoming one of Xavi’s team favorites and has featured in every one of their league matches so far.
He’s yet to get on the scoresheet, but he forced Barca’s old foe Sergio Ramos into an own goal as they beat Sevilla last weekend.
It was full circle for Yamal, who was Ramos’ mascot during a 2016 El Clasico match.
The winger has reportedly signed a new three-year contract with the club which includes a £1 billion release clause.
Lamine Yamal, 16, has featured in all of Barcelona’s league matches this season.
Spain coach Luis de La Fuente compared the striker to Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.
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Yamal also made a promising start to his international career by becoming Spain’s youngest ever debutant and goalscorer in a 7–1 win over Georgia in September.
De La Fuente was clearly impressed with his performance, as he said when announcing the squad for Spain’s upcoming European qualifiers against Scotland and Norway: “There are footballers who knock on the door before the others. He (Yamal) has exceptional conditions and his performance will determine what we can give him.
“Remember when Messi or Maradona played when they were 16? It now seems sacrilegious to debate whether they should play at the age of 16. You don’t have to set limits on players like this.
Reports in Sport suggest the comments did not go down well with Barcelona, who tried to keep as much pressure on Yamal as possible.
Manager Xavi, who played alongside Messi for 11 years at Camp Nou, said this in an interview a week earlier.
Speaking ahead of their 1-0 Champions League win over Porto on Wednesday, he said: “We’re doing Lamine a disservice if we compare him to Messi.
The comments are believed to have angered Xavi’s Barca, who are trying to keep the pressure on Yamal.
Xavi warned that players who have been compared to Messi in the past ‘have not done well at all’
“It’s true that the expectations are huge, he proves it, but we will see the future. But we have already seen that all the players who have been compared to Messi have not done well at all.
Regardless of the talk around Yamal, Barcelona have made a steady start to the season and are one point behind league leaders Real Madrid after eight games.
However, they are yet to produce their best football, with only two of their six league wins by a margin of more than one goal.
With Spain’s two biggest clubs so closely separated, Real’s trip to the Olympic Stadium for the Clasico at the end of October could be one of the biggest in recent memory.