Ballon d'Or contender Lamine Yamal almost made a surprising move from Barcelona to a rival European giant, according to a journalist in Germany.
Yamal is considered among the favourites for football's top individual award having performed to exceptional levels for club and country despite his tender years.
The 18-year-old is already a La Liga champion with Barcelona and a European Championship winner with Spain. He was instrumental in both triumphs.
He's already the jewel in the Barcelona crown but Yamal was once close to a bargain transfer to fellow Champions League regulars Bayern Munich.
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According to the football editor of German tabloid BILD, Bayern were on the brink of signing the teenager for just £4.3m as recently as 2022.
Christian Falk makes the claim in a new book, revealing that Bayern sent a delegation to Madrid to discuss a possible deal for Gavi.
Yamal was the real target.
"[Hasan] Salihamidzic and [Marco] Neppe also have a secret agenda, one they only intend to reveal at the meeting," writes Falk in a contemporary account of the pursuit.
"The Munich scouting department presented the Bayern bosses with video clips of another of [Ivan] de la Peña's clients – a player who had already started professional training at the age of 14. The attacking moves, tricks, and game scenes that the young Lamine Yamal displayed in these videos drove Bayern crazy. They had never seen such a talent at that age before!"
"De la Peña was therefore very surprised when, over dinner, Bayern suddenly shifted the conversation from Gavi to Lamine Yamal. Salihamidzic and Neppe laid their cards on the table: They were desperate to win the player for FC Bayern – and ideally wanted to meet his parents in person right away. The agent assured them that they would pass on their interest to Yamal's family."
Falk says that Bayern's sporting director and technical director left Spain confident of snapping up one of football's most exciting talents.
Yamal hit his stride before Bayern could sign him
Superagent Jorge Mendes soon took over Yamal's representation and reportedly told Bayern that a fee of €5m might get the deal done, but the player's progress was too fast for the deal to keep up with.
"Lamine Yamal's talent could no longer be concealed. The Spaniard took off so quickly that the decision to invest five million euros was ultimately taken away from Bayern," recalls Falk.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Yamal has just signed a new contract that could keep him at Barcelona until 2031.
He has scored two goals in three La Liga games in the new season and had six international goals to his name before he turned 18.
Topics: Football, La Liga, Barcelona, Lamine Yamal
Chris Nee