Ламин Ямал ирээдүйн шилдэг тоглогч болохыг Хави онцоллоо

When I hear the name Lamine Yamal it brings a smile to my face, because I’ve watched him grow since he was 15, practically a child, and we gave him his debut at Barcelona. I feel an immense sense of joy to see Lamine succeed.

We sometimes forget he’s only 18 and perhaps we demand too much of him, but he’s so capable — he has such an ability to do so many things on the pitch that his influence has grown. Team-mates search for him more. When there are problems at various points in the match, the ball goes to Lamine.

He’s a leader on the pitch who makes the difference at 18 — something we’ve only seen with Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Pele and maybe Ronaldo, ‘O Fenomeno’. He’s 18 and has already won three La Liga titles, a European Championship and is in the World Cup quarter-finals.

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He could be the star of an era, provided his ambition, attitude and determination are right. We’re looking at a world-class star who could be the best player of his generation.

He’s already — if not the best — among the top five of his generation.

But for me, he is different. The next 15 to 20 years belong to Lamine, if he wants.

If he wants them, they are his.

I heard about him around Barcelona before I saw him. People were talking about this boy — and the same thing had happened to me with Leo (Messi). I was told there was an Argentinian who played really well, who stood out and so on, and with Lamine practically the same thing happened to me.

The first time I saw him was in a youth match the club had recorded for us. He was 15 and put in a brilliant performance that day, providing two assists and scoring a goal. He did everything. I thought, ‘B****y hell, we don’t have anyone like this up front’.

This boy was different from everyone else his age, way above them. The difference was staggering — he practically did whatever he wanted on the pitch.

I spoke to Barca’s then director of football Mateu Alemany and sporting director Jordi Cruyff and I said, ‘Look, we’re short of players in the first team. I want to give this boy a go’. They told me to wait, because he didn’t have a contract. His contract had just run out, he was being represented by Ivan de la Pena and he later switched to Jorge Mendes. But they told me, ‘Don’t play him just yet — he doesn’t have a contract’. I said, ‘But I can call him up for training?’ I wanted him to train with the first team straight away.

This boy came along to train aged 15 and you could already see something different, something special. He dribbled really well. He made excellent decisions, he rarely made mistakes.

That’s what surprised me most during the rondo drills, the positional games, and the matches we played with the first team. He didn’t make a mistake.

(David Aliaga/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

You hardly ever had to tell him, ‘Lamine, watch out, you had two, three situations there where you could have done better’. At 15, he was doing almost everything right. We said, ‘B****y hell, this boy’s different’.

We treated him very well, we gave him a very good contract, we spoke to his agent, and from there I was able to give him his debut, because I could see he was ready. I could really see that.

This boy is not afraid of anything.

As a manager, when you put your hand on a lot of players’ backs, you can feel their heart right here (points to his neck). Thump, thump, thump. You know? Well, I’d put my hand on his back and it was like his heart wasn’t beating. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy’s calm’.

So we put him in on a day we were winning, in an easier match. We were 4-0 up at home against Real Betis and they were down to 10 men. I said, ‘Now’s the time’. I told my brother (assistant coach Oscar Hernandez) to tell Lamine to warm up. On the bench, everyone was like, ‘Really? Lamine?’, I said, ‘Yes, yes, tell him to warm up. I’m putting him on. I’ve got no problem with it’.

Yamal making his Barcelona debut against Real Betis in 2023, as Xavi watches on (Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The comparisons with Messi were inevitable because that’s where he plays. He’s left-footed, and he plays in the same position as Leo has in recent years — on the right wing. He cuts inside, creates opportunities for himself and is capable of delivering the final pass, too. There are many similarities with Leo. But I don’t think we’re doing the boy any favours by comparing him to the greatest of all time — it puts extra pressure on him.

Even so, I don’t think he minds. That’s why I was saying he has a very strong personality, because he doesn’t care. He wants the ball. He wants to play football. He enjoys it. He has a good time and has fun with the ball at his feet.

Messi is a reference point for Lamine, without a doubt. The great thing is that Messi has said he sees himself reflected in Lamine. He was asked about it, too… I recently saw an interview with him where he was asked, “Who do you see as (his successor)…?”, and he practically named him his heir. Just imagine how that makes Lamine feel.

When it comes to comparing them, they’re very different. Lamine is more of a dribbler. Leo was like Sonic the Hedgehog — he goes directly for goal. But I would compare them in terms of personality — in that they know they’re the best, and that’s very important.

Lamine knows he’s different. You can tell when you watch him and are around him. Just as Leo knew he was different. He had the ability to define a match, and Lamine has that, too. Since Lamine was little, he’s grown up with Pau Cubarsi, Marc Bernal, Alejandro Balde and Gavi. And they all know that he is different. And that’s very important for the team.

And he likes challenges — he’s a guy who thrives on challenges. We’d often challenge him to take free kicks and penalties in training. And he loved it. You could see he relished the challenge. It might have put pressure on others, but not him.

He enjoyed being tested, and I can see he’s still enjoying it now. Before the Euro 2024 semi-final against France, (France midfielder) Adrien Rabiot said he would have to “show more” in that game. Then he goes out and scores an incredible goal. That’s the way it is. The bigger the challenge, the more Lamine steps up.

Yamal scores against France in the Euro 2024 semi-finals (Christina Pahnke – sampics/Getty Images)

There was no need to talk to Lamine too much about pressure. He handles it so naturally in a way that’s unusual for someone his age. (In most such cases) You think, ‘We need to help this boy, we have to support him’. With Lamine, it’s the other way round — it’s about leaving him to it, not talking to him too much. He handles it very well. At 18, he’s playing in a World Cup, and the responsibility doesn’t weigh him down. He’s a guy who, despite the pressure of being a Barca player, wearing the No 10 and shouldering the weight of a national team like Spain, is enjoying himself.

If they don’t pass him the ball, he gets annoyed. He wants more responsibility, and that’s the way forward.

He’s a really good lad. He’s got a lot of character, a good heart, and he’s a leader for his team-mates, for the team. He is a dressing-room joker, but that creates a great atmosphere. He’s a nice guy. He’s sharp, just like on the pitch, a very intelligent guy who is extremely gifted on every level.

I used to tease him a lot about his free kicks. We’d stay behind to practise free kicks and I’d sometimes joke around when he missed three or four. I’d say, ‘Leave it to me’. I’d go and take the free kick and then say, ‘Whoever doesn’t score now, off to the showers’. And the guy would score one, two, three in a row. He’d look at me with a teasing look, as if to say, ‘You see I’m scoring now?’ He was very, very jokey in that sense. And when I teased him, it got even better results.

On a personal level, I’m very fond of Lamine. People say to me, ‘Oh, you gave him his debut!’ and so on, but I remember the person. Lamine is a very polite, down-to-earth boy and was always 10/10 in terms of his conduct with us. A winner, always training to the maximum. He had a great attitude, he never complained. He was already training very well and was always a winner. He wanted to win, win and win. I have really good memories of Lamine as a player, and of coaching him.

We still keep in touch through text messages and I saw him in April: we bumped into each other at the Laureus Awards, when he was receiving a prize. I always congratulate him — on winning La Liga, or if he wins an award, like the Golden Boy.

He made his debut for us at 15 and was 1.73m (5ft 8in) tall. Now he’s 1.85m (gft 1in). Physically, he wasn’t ready back then, but he is now. He’s a man now. Now he gets away from his marker with pace. Before, he’d only get away from his marker through skill. He’d feint, cut inside and look to shoot with his left foot. But now he’s getting down the wing. If he breaks away, it’s with strength and with pace. He couldn’t do that with us back then, because he was only 15.

Now, physically, he’s got it all. He’s got pace, he’s got quality, he’s got dribbling ability, he’s got skill, he’s got talent, he’s got the final pass, he can score goals. What doesn’t Lamine have? What could he improve on? Very little.

(David Ramos/Getty Images)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have a bad match. I’ve seen him have an average match, a very good or excellent match, but I don’t think I’ve seen Lamine have a bad match yet. He’s a real perfectionist. That character, to always want to be better, is fantastic.

He’s not the typical player Spain produces. He’s a skilful player — we’ve had players like that, of course — but not world stars, and he could already be among the most decisive players Spain have ever had in their history. That means that if he receives the ball, something’s going to happen. We’ve hardly ever had that. We’ve had a cohesive style of play, very good team play, but not an individual player who, in a situation where Spain might be struggling, appears and makes the difference like that. Argentina, Brazil and other national teams have had that, but not Spain. And now Spain have that skilful player and a world-class star, and that’s a huge plus.

Lamine is unique. I don’t think there were (Spanish) players like him in my generation. There were strikers — Fernando Torres, David Villa — and there were midfielders who can play further forward — David Silva, Andres Iniesta — but not a player who can beat three or four players and create a chance on his own. We were almost all playing for the team, as a team. It’s hard to find footballers who make such a difference like that. England have Bukayo Saka, for example, who creates chances; Dembele creates them; Mbappe creates them. But Spain have never had a player like that. Not in my generation.

He is the player that Spain needed to reach another level. Spain have always had the game, they’ve played good football. Perhaps we’ve been the best at this World Cup in terms of the team as a whole. There are matches where England play well, where Argentina play well, but Spain almost always dominate the match. They have 60, 70, 80 per cent possession. For me, that’s playing good football — having that dominance. But if they don’t have that dominance in a closely-fought match, they’ve got Lamine as their wildcard. We used to have that at Barca with Messi, now Spain have it with Lamine, and that makes them one of the favourites to win this World Cup.

Yamal and Spain knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal to reach the World Cup quarter-finals (Hannah Peters – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

What advice would I give him at the World Cup? That he brings out all his talent and personality.

They’re the sort of people and footballers who are made for these matches. He’s been waiting for all this. He was dreaming of reaching the quarter-finals, then a semi-final and a final. And look at how he played at the Euros two years ago. People were saying, ‘This is Lamine’s moment in the semi-finals — we’ll see’. Then he scored that great goal against France and in the final he set up Nico Williams’ goal. In the end, he’s going to make the difference.

He’s like Messi in the sense that he knows he’s that good and that he makes the difference. He’s saying to himself, ‘Now is the time. The team needs me to step up today’. That’s the mental side of it. He’s thinking, ‘This is the moment, this is the match, this is the stage — this is the World Cup’. He’s going to put in a great performance — I have no doubt about it.

He’s definitely among the top five players in the world at the moment. And if he wins the World Cup, he’ll be considered the best. I’m sure of it.