At first, it was unavoidable. Then gradually it began to linger in the air, conspicuous when absent, tired when present. But finally comparisons between Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi are beginning to fade into the background. From as soon as it became obvious that the teenage number 19, wearing Messi’s old number at Barcelona and likely to inherit his last number while at the Blaugrana, was operating at a superior level of talent to the majority of his teammates, it was inevitable. At least, for the most part.
“I don’t compare myself to anyone, and much less Messi, who is the greatest in history. I leave that stuff to the press,” Lamine Yamal commented after being asked about the Argentine calling him one of the best in the world. So here goes. Finding similarities between the precocious and prodigious talent and Messi is one of the more idle attempts at finding a comparison. Both are left-footed, both came through at La Masia, both have little regard for hierarchy. In a world where clicks power the money machine, it’s going to be difficult to escape the Messi comparison.
However if Lamine Yamal is similar to one of Barcelona’s great number 10s, it is Messi’s predecessor. Seared onto the brain of every football fan in the early 2000s is Eric Cantona, not for his playing career, but for how he talked about it during Nike advertisements. ‘When you are a kid, you are not afraid, to dare, to try,’ says Cantona, gruff, philosophical, the epitome of a man with charisma, as goofy-toothed child flickers into action. ‘You do it, just because you like it,’ Cantona trails off… And Ronaldinho begins to dance.
When Ronaldinho arrived to sunny Barcelona in 2003, they were downtrodden, reeling from years of decadence in the post Johan Cruyff-era – sound familiar? There was clearly quality there, but it was a squad that lacked leadership, one that was struggling for both identity and trophies, and that in an era when Deportivo La Coruna and Valencia challenged Real Madrid for titles. Ronaldinho arrived as the second prize to David Beckham, the first broken promise of a younger, leaner and less gravelly Joan Laporta.
What gave to Barcelona was his smile. Maybe the most infectious in the history of football. Something that they later could not put a price on. On his debut, on a hot August evening in Barcelona, Ronaldinho slalomed through several Sevilla defenders and slammed the ball into top corner from all of 35-yards at around quarter past midnight. A goal that belonged in a fever dream.
As the Brazilian did before him, Lamine Yamal has given Barcelona an imagination again. Beyond the absurd angled passes, the flicks of genius conception and adrenaline of watching defenders grasp helplessly for firm ground with their feet, the 17-year-old has opened up the box of possibility. For while Messi appeared timid on camera, and single-minded with the ball at his feet, Lamine Yamal oozes personality.
If Messi would dominate a game with whatever resource he decided to call upon, first dribbling, then finishing, then passing, Lamine Yamal, like Ronaldinho, imposes himself as a result of what he can do. With him on the pitch, Barcelona know there is a moment for them, that a turning point is just around the corner.
There are more mechanical aspects to what he does. When Ferran Torres begins running, he knows Lamine Yamal can find him in stride. When Raphinha begins bounding at the heels of a right-back, it’s because Lamine Yamal has the ability to bend the ball when the angle for the pass doesn’t exist. When Barcelona find themselves suffocating, they know that Lamine Yamal can find a way to keep the pressure at bay, and return the ball to a teammate with room to breathe.
Just as Ronaldinho, deceptively powerful, could bust his way through a backline or lift the ball over it. Samuel Eto’o knew that he had more space and a line of service that he could rely upon. Some of the great Ronaldinho images are goals. The ankle samba against Chelsea, the shredding of the Santiago Bernabeu. But then there was the no-look passes, the sombreros, flicking the ball over multiple defenders, the croqueta, or flip-flap as it found fame in English.
Take out your mental scrapbook and you find that Lamine Yamal’s moments are as much about the way he does things as what he does. The brace-face grin at the Bernabeu. His absurd 50-yard assist for Raphinha against Villarreal with the outside of the boot. That run against Alaves, darting in and out of six players. Lamine Yamal had a mixed game against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, but when Barcelona needed a moment, he glided past Fran Garcia twice setting up Pedri for star billing. Six minutes from defeat in the final, he lured Thibaut Courtois from his line with a pass from inside his own half that bounced tantalisingly behind Antonio Rudiger but into Torres’ path.
Lamine Yamal is statistically the least productive of Barcelona’s front three, his 38 goal contributions five behind Robert Lewandowski and 15 behind Raphinha’s tally. There is little doubt over which is the most important of the trio. At just 17 years old, whether it matters or not, Lamine Yamal is liquid confidence for an entire institution, an avenue to winning games and a door of possibility. He is not afraid to dare, to try. “I left fear back in a park Mataro a long time ago.” Let’s hope he nevers grows up.
