Barcelona believe Yamal’s talent is the best since Messi

The Athletic reports that Barcelona consider Yamal to be the most talented player since Lionel Messi, with the club having learnt lessons from players such as Fathi, Pedri and Garvey.

Barcelona sources close to the club have long promised that their La Masia football academy has an outstanding player with a height of talent that they have not seen since Lionel Messi. Last April, at the age of 15 years and 290 days, Yamal made his first-team debut, becoming the club’s youngest ever La Liga debutant.

By all accounts, Yamal’s talent would have made him a superstar, but Barcelona’s supporters were oblivious to their desire to find their new Messi, and in December 2007, a picture of Messi with young Yamal went viral on the internet, fuelling the belief that the boy was the chosen one.

However, the experience of Fathi and the club’s other young players suggests that they cannot afford to take too many risks. In recent years, midfielders Pedri and Garvey have suffered long-term injuries after being heavily utilised. Going back further. Assouline was compared to Lionel Messi after moving from La Masia to the B team managed by Pep Guardiola, but he has since played for 13 clubs and most recently took part in the King’s League Soccer Sevens programme organised by Piqué.

Those experiences have helped Barcelona learn. Last season, Barcelona limited Yamal‘s playing time – 30 starts in the team’s 51 games in all competitions. Barcelona and the player also agreed that he would only play in one of two international competitions this summer and chose the Europa League over the Olympics, thus avoiding the situation faced by Pedri, who played 73 games for club and country in 2020-21, including representing Spain at the Europa League and the Olympics.