FC Barcelona and La Masia have produced a number of highly talented young forwards over the last few years. The latest forward developed by the academy that is rated very highly by the club’s sporting department and who has already been in first-team dynamics frequently is Lamine Yamal.
Yamal has been with the first team throughout the pre-season, as he was a part of the USA tour and also made a decisive appearance in the Joan Gamper trophy. Inferring from this participation with the first team, it is expected that Xavi will give him chances to play in competitive matches as well this season.
Yamal to participate in U-17 World Cup
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, Lamine Yamal would be a part of Spain’s U-17 squad that will participate in the World Cup for this category in Indonesia. Spain is one of the candidates for the title, as La Roja will be looking to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat to France in the semi-finals of the European U-17 Championship in May, where Yamal scored a goal but was unable to lead the team to victory.
Yamal will be leading Spain’s attack in this tournament under the new U-17 coach for Spain, Hernan Perez. The new coach counts on the talents of Yamal to make the difference in this tournament, and Yamal will be following the footsteps of other illustrious Spanish players like Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Bojan Krkic, David de Gea, etc. by representing Spain in the U-17 World Cup.
The youngster will miss several games with Barcelona
This U-17 World Cup is scheduled from November 10 to December 2, and thus, Yamal would not be available to Xavi for this period. Fortunately, he will be available for the El Classico to be played at the Montjuic on 29th October, but will miss the matches against Real Sociedad, Alaves, and possibly the match against Atletico Madrid if his team reaches the last stages of the tournament.
The youngster will also miss the fourth and fifth matchdays of the UEFA Champions League group stage. While, he will miss playing in some of these matches with Barcelona, playing at the World Cup would also be a very good learning and development opportunity for the young player, while Xavi will also have plenty of options to put up a good offensive line even in absence of Yamal in these matches.
