La Masia is a gift that keeps on giving but one of its biggest productions in recent times is Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona wonderkid has had an incredible rise to stardom over the past 12 months is unprecedented.
There aren’t many 17-year-olds playing football at the top-most level and very few who consistently have the kind of impact that Yamal has had. He is already among the best in his position at such a young age.
If last season was about Yamal’s rise to stardom, the Euros was where it reached its pinnacle. On arguably one of the biggest football stages in the world, the Spaniard was his team’s most important player behind Rodri.
This season is now about consolidation and constant improvement and Yamal has started in fine fashion with one goal and four assists from four La Liga games so far. The 17-year-old was even nominated for the Ballon d’Or recently.
Now, a report from SPORT has explained the physical transformation that the player has undergone in the past season. Yamal is now 1.8m tall and has gained 8 kilos of muscle mass since last season.
The player has been under a specific training regime to increase his muscle mass and the results have been there to see on the pitch. Yamal looks much more physical and prepared to take on the world’s best defenders at such a young age.
The report adds that Xavi’s coaching staff had helped Lamine immensely in this regard and this has only been taken to the next level by Hansi Flick. The German coach is known for the emphasis he lays on physical preparation.
Barcelona as a team look much more physically prepared in games this season under Flick. They are outlasting their opponents in terms of energy and it has been a great start to life under the German. Let’s see how Lamine and the team in general develop going forward this season.