Very few clubs in the world can even claim to have an arsenal of youth players the way Barcelona does. While other teams continue to invest with big signings, the Catalan giants keep their focus on their youth products. For Barcelona, doing so allows them to limit the negative impact that their financial restrictions impose on them.
While the club may be unable to sign as frequently as they would ideally like to, La Blaugrana have found another avenue that keeps them competitive from a sporting sense. That avenue would be entrusting the club’s success to their brilliant young talents and giving them the chances they crave.
However, perhaps no youngster embodies the spirit and hopes of Barcelona more than 17-year-old Lamine Yamal. Already considered by many to be a generational talent that Barça have managed to get their hands on, it now becomes hardly surprising to see that the young gem is being compared to Lionel Messi.
Even their viral picture together further adds fuel to this ever-growing comparison, but the reaction of the player to this particular comparison was something many wanted to know as well. Fortunately, they now have an answer from the teenage sensation himself.
As highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, Yamal recently spoke about the topic on his recent appearance on the show ‘El Hormiguero’, and came clean about how he felt being compared to one of football’s greatest ever players: “I like being compared to the best in history, Leo Messi.”
However, Yamal is simultaneously a player who wants to stay down to earth and claims that his goal is not exactly to be Messi but rather to be himself in a way that allows him to stand out: “… But I want to be Lamine Yamal and reaching Messi’s level is impossible.”
Ultimately, it is a fair answer from a youngster who continues to show maturity well beyond his years. Despite just being 17, his words seem to come bound with experience and a sense of humility and humbleness despite the various accolades and achievements he already has.
As for catching up to Messi himself, the answer seemed pretty straightforward enough. With an absurd career full of goals, assists, awards, and titles, Messi has left behind a legacy that almost feels impossible to live up to. However, if anyone has the talent to manage it somehow, perhaps there is no better answer than Lamine Yamal, a player who even Messi’s biggest competitor seems to rate highly.
