The 16-year-old has made a superb start to his professional career for both club and country, but he shouldn't be compared to the GOAT
If it was Lamine Yamal's potential that started the Lionel Messi comparisons, a photo truly let them loose. The picture, widely circulated on social media, is just five years old. A slight Yamal, wearing a grey Nike hoodie and Tottenham sweats, poses with a smirking Messi. It is not the image of a future star, or, more importantly, a player who knows he's standing with one.
But it has since become a source of propaganda, evidence of 'the first link-up' or a visual representation of 'when greatness meets greatness'. Still, the picture, although overblown, does provide valuable context to one of modern football's greatest issues. Barcelona, and the sport at large, is constantly in search of its 'next Messi.'
Enter the latest candidate: Yamal. The 16-year-old certainly ticks some boxes. Here is a left-footed right-winger, revered for his dribbling ability and finesse. His low centre of gravity and silky first touch make him difficult to knock off the ball, while his eye for slick passes in the final third make him a creative threat. Any of this sound familiar?
After that, though, the similarities end. Yamal, although he has enjoyed an immensely promising start to his Barca and Spain career, could do with shedding the Messi association. But while his predecessors were burdened by it — and have spent most of their careers trying and failing to hit those lofty heights — Yamal is too good in his own way.
This is not a player better than Messi. Nor is he one who could be markedly worse. Rather, Yamal is an immense talent who needs to be allowed to forge his own path — one that has him on track to be truly world-class.
(C)GettyImagesWhere things started for Yamal
Xavi had clearly seen something in Yamal at the start of last season. It is not entirely unusual for the Barca manager to include the best La Masia products in first-team training, but Xavi ensured that Yamal stayed around the senior players. By September, Yamal was a mainstay, practicing daily with Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and co., before spending his weekends with Barca's Juvenil A (Under-19s) side — all at 15-years-old. Spanish publication wrote at the time that Barca had found its "New Ansu", a characterization equal parts flattering and ominous.
Yamal's debut came in April when the league was effectively won, the 15-year-old becoming La Liga's youngest player in the 21st century when he entered the fray late in Barca's clash with Real Betis. He almost found the net with his second touch, too, lashing a shot right at the keeper with his left foot. A few minutes later, he probably should've notched his first assist, guiding the ball over the defence into the path of Ousmane Dembele, who fluffed his shot from close range.
The reviews of his showing were glowing. described his debut as "dazzling." Xavi claimed that Yamal could "mark an era" at Camp Nou. Hype only grew from there. Yamal's match-winning performance in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Tottenham, a 15-minute showing in which he assisted Barca's equaliser, and proved crucial in two further goals — served as a proper announcement to the footballing world.
That display was enough to keep him in the first team for the 2023-24 season opener. He swiftly became Barca's youngest La Liga starter, assister and goalscorer. It all culminated in an admittedly hasty Spain call-up. Yamal, of course, scored on his national-team debut. A few weeks later, he agreed terms on a professional contract, with Barcelona inserting a €1 billion (£866m/$1bn) release clause — the maximum allowed in Spanish football — into the paperwork. The legend, it seems, has begun.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesIs the Messi comparison fair?
The hype was always likely to go through the roof, though. Yamal's experience in Barcelona so far is an admittedly familiar one — especially among recent La Masia graduates. Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde and Gavi all emerged into the senior side in similar ways, breaking out before they were truly ready, racking up records, and setting expectations frighteningly high. Ansu was Barca's next great forward, and took Messi's No.10 shirt when the Argentine vacated it. Gavi, somehow, became the next Xavi — despite functioning entirely differently as the now Barca manager. Even Pedri, who wasn't a La Masia player but who was handed his Barca debut at an incredibly young age, looks like Andres Iniesta-incarnate.
Yamal, though, is different. The obvious point of contention here is his position. Silky midfielders of Pedri and Gavi's mould emerge in Spanish football all the time, but athletic wingers aren't necessarily the country's forte. It is for that reason that the Messi comparisons are being chucked around prematurely, no matter how unfair they might be.
Ironically, a more apt comparison for Yamal is Bukayo Saka. Although excellent on the ball, and with a real eye for goal, Yamal isn't a prolific inside forward like Messi. But he's not quite a touchline winger, either. Instead, he does a lot of what Saka has become famous for, dribbling without touching the ball, and utilising sharp cuts and clever turns to create angles.
If Yamal comes close to Saka's numbers — or impact — it would be an overwhelming success. The Englishman has tallied 50 goal contributions in the Premier League alone since the start of the 2021-22 season, and averages a goal or assist every 100 minutes. Barca, it appears, would have few complaints if they had the next Saka on their books.
Messi, meanwhile, is an alien. His numbers at Barcelona weren't immediately world-class, but it was clear early on that the Blaugrana had a generational talent on their hands. Yamal isn't quite that good — not yet.
And if numbers are the question, then Messi also has an edge. In his first full season, aged 19, Messi scored 14 and added three assists in La Liga — all while making 23 starts. After nearly two months, Yamal has scored one and assisted one in five starts, albeit at a much younger age. If managed correctly, he won't play as many minutes as the Argentine did in his teenage years — making this an inherently imperfect juxtaposition for those of a statistical mind.
GettyThe 'new Messi' curse
Yamal would do well to shed the Messi expectations. It has, after all, been a curse laid upon many La Masia graduates in recent years.
Bojan Krkic was the first player to inherit the 'new Messi' title. The winger came through the Barca youth system in 2007, aged 17. It was alleged that he scored nearly 1,000 goals at various age-group teams during nine years at the academy.
He broke Messi's record as the youngest Barca player to feature in a La Liga match, and did the same in the Champions League three days later. He scored 12 goals in his first season for the Catalan club, but never truly bedded into the Barca team. By 2011, he was struggling to get into Roma's first team, and ended his career at Vissel Kobe in Japan, aged 32. The winger would later go on to admit that anxiety issues caused by the pressure of fame at a young age forced him to pull out of Spain's Euro 2008-winning squad.
Giovani Dos Santos came around the same time. A Mexican national who joined La Masia at 13, Dos Santos rose rapidly through the youth ranks. He was included in Barca's senior side on a pre-season tour at just 17, and impressed on his debut. The following year, he broke into the squad for good, and on September 2, 2007, replaced Thierry Henry to make his competitive bow. But he didn't live up to expectations and only scored three times — all of which came in the same game — for the Blaugrana. After spells at Tottenham, Mallorca, Villarreal and the LA Galaxy, he was released by Club America back in his homeland in 2021.
Munir El Haddadi was next. The Morocco international enjoyed a rapid rise through Barca's youth system, and after scoring on his debut in August 2014, the hype had reached a tipping point. He filled in admirably for an injured Neymar, and was tipped to be the poster boy for a revamped Barca side under Luis Enrique. A Golden Boy nomination followed, as did a Champions League winners' medal. But he never built on early success, and was sent on a series of loans before landing at Las Palmas at the start of this season.
Riqui Puig is a more recent example. A Catalunyan native, conveniently around 5'7 tall with often mesmerising dribbling ability, he checked all of the aesthetic boxes for a Messi clone. This one was perhaps the most far-fetched comparison, though. Goalscoring has never been Puig's forte, nor did he play on the wing. And Xavi, perhaps to the benefit of both parties, realised that Puig wouldn't be a regular at Camp Nou. He has since enjoyed an agreeable 15 months for LA Galaxy. But despite being just 23, it seems his time at the top is over.
Whether the same can be said of Ansu, we'll have to wait and see. Having received similar treatment to Yamal when breaking out as a 16-year-old, injury woes and a drop in form and confidence led to the Spain winger joining Brighton on loan in August. How he fares in the Premier League will likely decide whether he has a future at Barca or not.
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GettyYamal can be better than all of them
And what's different here? How can Yamal exorcise the demons of Puig, Bojan, Munir, Dos Santos and, even Fati? Talent is certainly part of the equation. Yamal is, quite simply, better than all of them. His one-on-one ability, instinct in the final third, and eye for a pass eclipse all three. And while Fati is probably a better finisher, there is no reason to believe that Yamal can't improve as a goalscorer.
Perhaps more importantly, though, is the relative lack of pressure. Although Yamal has enjoyed an excellent start to both his club and international careers, Barcelona don't necessarily need him to be their main man. Raphinha, when fully fit, is probably the preferred right winger — something Xavi showed by selecting the Brazilian ahead of the teenager when both players were healthy. With Ferran Torres and Joao Felix as options in attacking areas, there's certainly depth, too. And when Vitor Roque arrives from Athletico PR in January, there will be further striking options for the Blaugrana. Yamal could well make only 40 appearances this season — a far cry from the 62 Saka made last term, and the 60 Pedri played in his first season in Catalunya.
A tired Yamal can be benched. A Yamal lacking fitness can be rested. A Yamal slightly out of form can be shielded from the spotlight. Everything here points towards a generational talent who has room to grow.