Barcelona Prodigy Lamine Yamal: 15-Year-Old Moroccan-Spanish Talent Breaks La Liga Debut Record

Born in 2007 in the Catalan city of Esplugas de Llobregat, to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, Lamine Yamal made his debut in Barça’s lower categories under the orders of Julen Guerrero and Albert Puig. Also of Spanish nationality, he has played for the under-17 national team where he scored four goals this summer in the Joan Gamper tournament.

The young player with promising talent has won the admiration of his coaches. "He is a very creative and decisive player and we have closely followed and analyzed him since the national team," Julen Guerrero told Ok Diario. The coach is full of praise for Yamal, considered the Barça "little Messi", who has broken all records of precocity, becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to play in La Liga.

"He is a player who makes a lot of breakthroughs and dribbles. I think he should combine the first team with Barça Athletic," recommends Yamal’s former coach, urging Xavi Hernandez to trust the young player despite his age. For Julen, Barça is a club where the Moroccan gem, still at the beginning of his career, can quickly progress and gain in personality and rhythm.

In the same vein, Albert Puig, another of Yamal’s coaches in Barça’s lower categories, emphasizes the great "humility" and winning mentality of the player since the age of 10. "He is a very competitive player who has a thirst for winning. He is able to make the difference on the pitch. He is an exceptional quality player... We helped him train, prepare mentally, etc. We are proud of him, but all the merit goes to him," says Albert Puig.