Lamine Yamal: From Precocious Genius to Difficult Management of Glory

At only 18 years old, Lamine Yamal is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, the second according to the latest Ballon d’Or ranking. The young striker, nicknamed the "little Messi" of Barça, is racking up records of precocity: he has already won two Spanish championships, the Copa del Rey or the Spanish Super Cup with his club and a European championship title with the Roja. Since the beginning of this season, the crack of Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean origin has been assigned the number 10, worn before him by legends like Pulga, Ronaldinho or Diego Maradona.

But Yamal seems to be having trouble managing this early success and glory. His inappropriate behavior on and off the field is evidence of this. To celebrate his 18th birthday on July 13th, the 18-year-old player organized a party animated by people with dwarfism. A tasteless joke that had provoked a wave of criticism on social networks. The Barcelona player is also facing strong criticism for his reactions deemed arrogant and disrespectful, like the time he ignored Cristiano Ronaldo’s handshake after Spain’s defeat against Portugal in the Nations League Final Four final.

Recently, the Barça prodigy did not mince his words when talking about Real Madrid, before the Clasico. "They steal, they complain all the time," he had clumsily said. "Someone should tell him that at 18, it’s not necessary to go through life so fast. Winning or losing, stupidity remains stupidity, lack of respect remains lack of respect, and boastfulness remains boastfulness," wrote Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid legend, in his column for El País. The press does not fail to report his separation from Argentine rapper Nicki Nicole, or the purchase of Shakira and Gerard Piqué’s former villa for 14 million euros.

Yamal’s entourage is not making things easier for him either. His father, Mounir Nasraoui, of Moroccan origin, never misses an opportunity to make headlines in the press. His knife attack in a Barcelona neighborhood made the front pages of the newspapers. "I think it is the greatest prejudice, I will not say theft, but moral prejudice caused to a human being, because I believe that Lamine is by far the best player in the world," he had also declared after his son’s defeat for the Ballon d’Or, won by Ousmane Dembélé.