Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana, the inheritor of Barcelona’s iconic 10, is the present and future of soccer. This 18-year-old has been called “The Next Messi’ or “A future goat of the sport” yet many people also say he’s going to be a flop and that he has too big of an “ego” to be successful. Other people say that he will be the type to party and spend money and to not focus on his game, similar to another young and talented Barcelona player of the past, Neymar Jr.
Lamine Yamal, who was born to African parents, was born in Esplugues de Llobregat, in the Barcelona are of Catalonia in Spain. From an early age, he started playing soccer at a very early age, and joined the most successful and famous academy, La Masia, in 2014 at 7 years old. He played in La Masia through his teen years, and on April 29th, 2023, at 15 years 9 months and 16 days old, coach Xavi Hernandez subbed Yamal into a LaLiga game against Real Betis, beginning a new era of F.C. Barcelona. Little did Barcelona and soccer fans all over the world know that the 15-year-old kid that nobody knew was going to get Barcelona out of the darkest hole in the club’s history.
Throughout the course of the next two seasons, Yamal improved tons, not just with Barcelona but also with the Spanish national team, being a crucial part of their Euros 2024 win and making the finals of the 2025 Nations League. He has become one of, if not the most important part of now Barca head coach Hansi Flick’s starting lineup, winning the 2024-2025 LaLiga trophy, as well as the Copa Del Rey (The King’s Cup), and the Supercopa De España. Though all of these accolades didn’t come without drama and controversy. As Yamal has turned into arguably the best soccer player in the world, he has also gained money, fame, and haters. People don’t like the fact that Lamine posts Instagram stories before every game, or his controversy-filled 18th birthday party.
After all this, we are at the beginning of the 25-26 LaLiga season and UEFA Champions League. This is going to be a very interesting season, as during the off-season, Yamal took the heavy burden of Barcelona’s number 10, previously held by Ansu Fati, a player that was in a very similar position to Yamal when he took the number, a young, talented player that the Barcelona fans adored. However, Fati’s career took a turn for the worst, when bad performances and many injuries left him with very little playing time on the pitch, leading to most people calling him a flop and that he didn’t live up to the number 10. This is what many people think is going to happen to Yamal himself. This season will be incredibly interesting to see, as last season Yamal took a big jump in stats, going from 10 G/A in the 23-24 season (goals and assists) to a whopping 43 G/A in the 24-25 campaign, just in the span of one season. Now that Yamal has proved that he has the skill and the nerve under pressure, people are curious to see how much chaos he can cause in the European Futbol stage.
“Barcelona is known for giving chances to young players in the first team increases his opportunities to gain valuable match experience at the highest level,” Andrew Agyemang, a freshman at King High School said.
Even many futbol legends like Cristiano Ronaldo have spoken about Lamine Yamal and his situation and future. “Lamine is going to win a lot of collective and individual titles. He’s a phenomenon. He’ll have a long career and he’s going to win a lot of Nations League. He’s 17- please, leave him alone. I have to ask you to let him be. He has to be calm,” (Max Mallow, Sports Illustrated). Ronaldo joined soccer giants Manchester United at 18 years old from Sporting Lisbon as a young talented winger that was critical part of their three straight Premier League titles from 2006 to 2008 and their 07-08 Champions League win, similar to Lamine Yamal’s triumphs at Barcelona at such a young age.
“The way Lamine handles the high-pressure situations and his dribbling looks like he’s been playing for 20 years. He’s already one of the best in Barcelona’s squad,” Donovan Evans, a freshman at Wharton High School said.
Love him or hate him, Lamine Yamal is a generational talent and he’s a person that, although surrounded by a ton of drama, has the potential to be a legend of the game in the future. He’s not just the present of the sport, but the future of Futbol in general.