Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona, La Liga, Champions League
Ryan Smart
Barcelona director Deco has revealed that one club made a serious attempt to sign Lamine Yamal last year.
The 17-year-old winger has set world football alight since breaking through into the first team at the beginning of last season.
Yamal is already a European Championship winner with Spain, and played a key role in Barcelona's La Liga triumph this term.
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Likened to Lionel Messi given his ascent up the ranks, Yamal's dribbling, movement and shooting ability with both feet has already turned him into one of the best footballers on the planet.
He is now a major contender to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or, having won the Kopa Trophy for best young player in 2024.
But had one European giant had their way, Yamal's career could have taken a much different path.
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Deco, who played for the club between 2004 and 2008, has revealed that Barcelona had to ward off interest from Paris Saint-Germain in Yamal's services.
He told Spanish radio programme El Mon a Rac1: "Last season they [PSG] came to ask about him, this year not yet.
"But we want him to stay and enjoy Lamine for a long time.
"Paris Saint-Germain came to ask, Real Madrid didn't."
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Unlike in English football, where transfers of under-18 players from outside of the United Kingdom is prohibited, PSG could have signed Yamal last summer as long they committed to strict regulations surrounding the player's education and well-being.
Luis Enrique's side have shifted their approach in recent seasons to sign a large core of French players, with the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue among those to star for the club this season.
But the opportunity to sign a player of Yamal's quality was clearly not one they could turn down - though it was clearly one that Barca would always shut down at the first opportunity.