You might be surprised to learn that Lamine Yamal, a Barcelona and Spain talent, has chosen someone else as his football idol—and it’s not Lionel Messi.
Yamal shot to fame with a stunning performance during Spain’s Euro 2024-winning campaign last summer, and he has maintained his impressive form for Barcelona this season.
With ten goal involvements this season—four goals and six assists—in ten La Liga games, the 17-year-old “La Masia” youth product is a staple in Hansi Flick’s team, helping Barca win the Spanish top division. You might be surprised to learn that Lamine Yamal, a Barcelona and Spain talent, has chosen someone else as his football idol—and it’s not Lionel Messi.
Who is Lamine Yamal’s Real idol?
Though the Argentine will undoubtedly inspire him, Yamal still has a long way to go before he can duplicate the unlikely accomplishment of Messi’s trophy-filled career.
But in a recent interview, when asked who his idol was, he omitted to mention Messi. Although he acknowledged that being compared to the great man is a sign of progress, he maintained that “leaving a legacy is the most important thing.”
“My idol as a child was Neymar, although Messi was the best, the way Ney played and the way he was… I loved it,” Yamal told La Liga TV.
Lamine Yamal, who is 17 years old and was born in 2007, will undoubtedly be able to recall Messi and company at their best, but the entrance of Neymar in Catalonia in 2013 captivated the attention of young people at the moment.
He distinguished himself from the other players at Camp Nou with his appealing style of play and use of striking skills.
“At that moment, I remember that Neymar was at Santos, Messi obviously… Messi, {David Villa], Pedro… All from Barça,” he explained in an interview with French magazine France Football.
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“Those are the first images that made me see football.
“Since I was little, with my father and my mother at home, that’s the first thing I remember.
“We would meet after school at a friend’s house because he had a computer and we would put on videos of Neymar.”
“We would spend the whole afternoon watching there. Then I would go to sleep at my house and I would watch it at home, in my room,” he added.
