Lamine Yamal makes shock Marcus Rashford claim in honest admission about his time at Barcelona
Lamine Yamal has made an interesting claim about Marcus Rashford in an honest interview with the Spanish media.
Yamal, 19, addressed several topics during an interview with Movistar, including his chances of winning the 2026 Ballon d’Or, while also making the heartbreaking claim that he has experienced racism “a thousand times”.
The teenager, who has netted seven goals in six La Liga matches this term, surprisingly referenced Rashford when explaining the importance of Barcelona’s ‘El Clásico’ rivalry with Real Madrid.
“I remember I watched Rashford play on his first Clásico and thought to myself that he does NOT yet know what this game means,” Yamal claimed.
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“Then, in the return leg, he truly understood what a Clásico means, when he scored a goal from a free kick and played with a different intensity,” Yamal told Movistar.
“When you come from La Masia, from your very first Clásico, you already know what this match means, and you know that this match is PURE BATTLE.”
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The admission may come as a surprise to supporters, as Rashford has played in two of the Premier League’s fiercest rivalries when lining up for Manchester United against Manchester City and Liverpool.
The England international made 49 appearances for Barcelona while on loan from parent club United last term, with his 14 goals and 15 assists helping the club retain the La Liga title.
In the three El Clásico matches he took part in, Rashford provided one assist and scored in Barca’s win over Real Madrid on May 10, which secured the La Liga crown.
Despite his positive contributions in a Barcelona shirt, the club decided against signing him permanently for just £26million during the summer window. Instead, the Catalans signed Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United.
Barca also welcomed the familiar names of Rodri, João Cancelo, Karim Adeyemi, Gabriel Jesus and Dominik Livaković during the summer transfer window.
Why did Barcelona sign Gordon over Rashford?
Speaking earlier in September, Barca sporting director Deco explained the reasons behind the decision to sign Gordon over Rashford.
“We see every training session and analyse the team," he said.
“We have a clear idea what we're looking for. One of the areas we struggled last season, without Raphinha, was that the team's energy dropped. It was lost.
“We needed more intensity. We analysed a lot of wingers. Signing someone from the Premier League is almost impossible, but [Flick] was clear with what he wanted and we worked on a deal from there.”
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Marcus Rashford, El Clasico, La Liga, Football News
Luke Davies