Former French footballer Eric Abidal has had a significant relationship with FC Barcelona. He has been a player at the club during one of its most successful periods in its glorious history and also had a stint at the club as its sporting director between 2018 and 2020.
Abidal operated at the club at a time when there seemed to be no sense of direction under the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu. The Frenchman brought the likes of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong to the club who have gone on to become success stories and also Antoine Griezmann to a lesser degree.
However, his tenure at the club as a sporting director was marked by more misses than hits. One of the many players who has broken through at Barcelona after Abidal’s tenure is Lamine Yamal, who is making waves in Spanish football.
As quoted by SPORT, Abidal has now spoken about an interaction with Kylian Mbappe to talk about Lamine Yamal and highlight that age doesn’t matter. Here is what the Frenchman had to say:
“He has become the player that everyone knows, but for me, what is surprising is knowing that there are players like him in La Masia who can emerge overnight.”
“It makes me think of an interview with Mbappé where he said, ‘Don’t talk to me about age,’ and I think he was right. The level is what makes the difference. If he has the level, as we are seeing on the field, age matters little.”
The Real Madrid superstar is right: age should not be a barrier to success. As long as a player demonstrates their readiness to compete at a club of Barcelona’s stature, age becomes irrelevant. To be fair, the club has not limited opportunities for young talents based on age.
Ansu Fati, like Gavi and Lamine Yamal, made his first-team debut at a very young age. Pau Cubarsi joined the team just before his 17th birthday, while Pedri was also 17 when he arrived at Barcelona. In this campaign, Hansi Flick has shown immense trust in Marc Bernal, who is just 17.
Lamine Yamal’s impact at Barcelona over the past season has been remarkable. He has become a key player on the team sheet for both Hansi Flick at the club level and Luis de la Fuente with the Spanish national team.
At this point, everything indicates that Yamal is set for a huge career in this sport. This is just the beginning, and we will have to wait and see how he develops in the years to come.
