Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Football
Marcus Chan
Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal has been told why he can’t enter the GOAT debate alongside Lionel Messi just yet.
Back in 2023, Yamal made his first team debut at the age of 16 after replacing Pablo Gavi during Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Betis in La Liga.
Since then, the winger has become one of the hottest prospects in world football.
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In total, Yamal has so far scored 12 goals in 61 appearances for Barcelona and has also scored three times in 16 matches for Spain.
Yamal was part of the Spain squad that won Euro 2024 and was one of the best players during the tournament held in Germany.
As a result, many fans have started to compare Yamal with the legendary Messi.
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However, former Barcelona director Jordi Cruyff has said that it is far too soon to compare Yamal and Messi.
He said on Radio MARCA, as per GOAL: “He is a different player, with a different talent, with a lot of personality for his age.
“From the very first day without any fear of ‘give me the ball, I’m going to make my move’. And the truth is that if he is not injured, he is obviously a player who is going to mark an era, but to say that he is going to be a Messi… We’ll know when he is 30 years old.”
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Yamal himself shut down comparisons with Messi, the 17-year-old previously said: “I like that they compare me to the greatest player in the history of football, but I want to be myself, Reaching Messi's level is impossible.”
Speaking about playing under new boss Hansi Flick, Yamal said: “We are having a lot of fun and it shows. Flick gives us freedom and it makes us very happy to keep adding three points at a time.
“It is true that physically you have to push harder but, when you recover quickly, your legs recover better. But it is true that the team is more physical than last year.”
Yamal and Barcelona will be back in La Liga action next Sunday when they take on Sevilla.