Enric Masip, assistant to the FC Barcelona president, spoke about Lamine Yamal’s breakthrough and the great moment he is going through. The legend (in handball) of the ‘Cules’ squad highlighted how the youth player has eclipsed what was going to be “Mbappe’s league” and made it clear that comparisons with Messi will be inevitable for the young star given his performance.
Last summer’s European Championship winner and one of the leaders of Hansi Flick‘s revamped Barcelona , Lamine Yamal’s limit is not yet in sight . The young ‘Azulgrana’ gem is performing at a superlative level in this first half of the season and, at just 17 years of age, many are putting the cheeky ‘Cules’ winger in the conversation about who is the best player in the world.
Enric Masip, assistant to the president of the Condal City outfit, spoke about Lamine’s rise to prominence and assessed the level at which he is currently playing. For Masip, a legend of the club (of the handball section), nobody is more decisive today than the native of Esplugas de Llobregat.
“For me, Lamine Yamal is the most decisive player in the world right now. To think that we can have the best player in the world is something very nice”, began Masip on Josep Pedrerol’s ‘El Cafelito’ podcast. The Barca representative went on to highlight the important timing of Lamine’s meteoric rise to stardom, as it has coincided with the arrival of a star like Kylian Mbappé at the club’s biggest rival.
“This has been for us… Not a lottery, but of course, just the year that Mbappé decides to go to Madrid, which was like the icing on the cake for a champion team, we get a 16-17 year old kid who wins the European Championship and becomes a world phenomenon. You start in a league that begins like Mbappe’s league and this kid arrives with his joy, his overflow…. He’s a different player,” he said.
Similarly, Masip highlighted Lamine’s skills in comparison to other stars such as Mbappe or Vinicius. “Vinicius is a great player, but what he does can also be done by Mbappe. What Lamine Yamal does, for me, is something you would see in Messi. That something different – can he be the best in the world? Yes, but we have to keep calm,” he said.
On the subject of comparisons with Messi, Masip himself pointed out that they are and will be inevitable and that the young star will have to learn to live with it. “It’s going to be like that because he doesn’t leave you indifferent on the pitch. Every game he does something that leaves you open-mouthed,” he said.
Finally, Masip spoke about the possibility that Lamine Yamal had left last summer, confirming that there was a big offer for him from (without naming him explicitly) Paris Saint-Germain. “The president said there was an offer of 250 million that he rejected. He never considered it. The proposal came from France,” he said.
