Gary Lineker never thought we'd see another player like Lionel Messi – until Lamine Yamal came along. "Just watching him, he makes it look so easy to beat a player. He goes past them almost as if they're invisible, like they're not there," the ex-England international enthused on the 'Stick to Football' podcast the morning after Barcelona's thrilling 3-3 draw with Inter on April 30.
For all his understandable excitement, though, Lineker felt compelled to add a word of warning, pointing out that Yamal had already played more than 100 games for Barcelona before the age of 18 – which, in his eyes, was as concerning as it was impressive. "It worries me slightly that they might burn him out," Lineker admitted.
Regrettably, Yamal's workload has become an even bigger talking point over the past six months, culminating in a very public row breaking out between Barca boss Hansi Flick and his Spain counterpart Luis de la Fuente over the forward's latest injury issue…
AFPA 16-year-old superstar
Yamal was just 15 years, nine months and 16 days old when he made his Barcelona debut against Betis on 29 April 2023. By the turn of the year, though, he was a first-team regular. Indeed, he sat out just one of Barca's 38 games during the 2023-24 Liga season and was involved in all 10 of their Champions League matches, starting seven of them.
His sensational performances for one of the biggest teams in Europe almost inevitably resulted in him being called up by Spain for Euro 2024. He was still only 16 at the time and had to bring school books with him to Germany to study for his exams – yet the braces-wearing winger taught Adrien Rabiot a harsh lesson about the perils of underestimating him during La Roja's thrilling tournament triumph.
There was no longer any hiding it or even playing it down. The hype was real. Yamal was already better than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age. Basically, not since Pele at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden had a teenager made such a spectacular and immediate impact on international football.
The problem, though, is that Yamal's importance to Barca and Spain has only grown over the past year, resulting in even more pressure being placed on a body that, as Lineker pointed out, is still developing.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'I've learned how to manage myself'
Yamal featured in Barca's first 11 games of the 2024-25 season and the only match he didn't start, against Osasuna in La Liga, they lost. The youngster also played in Spain's first three Nations League games. However, after completing 90 minutes of the 1-0 win over Denmark on October 12, Yamal missed the meeting with Serbia three days later.
"Lamine had some discomfort at the end of the match at the weekend," De la Fuente said. "I spoke to him, and he told me that he thought he wouldn’t be 100 percent fit for Tuesday. When in doubt, we always bet on the health of the athlete."
Yamal returned to action for Barca after the international break but picked up an ankle injury that ruled him out of four games: two for his club (neither of which the Catalans won) and two for his country. Nonetheless, Yamal enjoyed a relatively pain-free second half of the season and ended up making 55 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions (five more than the previous campaign) before representing Spain at the Nations League finals.
It's worth noting at this point that Yamal felt little fatigue during the business end of the 2024-25 season, revealing that he was essentially taking a leaf out of Messi's book by conserving as much energy as possible during games for explosive bursts of brilliance.
"I think one thing I have learned this year is how to manage myself," he told . "There are people who say: 'Why don’t you move for 10 minutes?' But, at the end of the day, there are moments when you don't have to run all the time,
"You have to know how to manage yourself during the game, during the season, to know during training what you have to do … So I think that's something I've learned. And, to be honest, I am doing really well."
Unfortunately, that's no longer the case and the question is who's to blame?
AFP'They gave him painkillers to play'
Yamal hit the ground running this season for Barcelona, with five goal involvements in his first three Liga outings. He also impressed for Spain in their World Cup qualifying wins over Bulgaria and Turkey at the start of September. However, that's when the trouble began, as Yamal went back to Barcelona with a groin problem and Flick was furious.
"He went to the national team with pain and did not train. They gave him painkillers to play. They had at least a three-goal lead in each match, and he played 73 and 79 minutes, and between matches, he couldn’t train," Flick fumed.
"That’s not taking care of the player. I think the Spanish national team has a great team, the best players in the world, but they haven't looked after their players and I’m very sad about this situation."
Yamal ended up missing four games for Barca before returning to action on September 28, setting up the winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad a minute after coming on as sub. He then played the entirety of the subsequent midweek Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
De la Fuente, thus, named Yamal in his squad for the October World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria – much to the frustration of Flick and Barcelona.
AFP'I always tell the truth
De la Fuente insisted that there was "no conflict with Flick" over Yamal but nonetheless expressed his disappointment with the former Germany boss for his previous criticism of Spain.
"He was a national team coach himself and I believed he had that empathy," De La Fuente said. "He knows how we treat players. So, that's what surprises me, that a former coach would have that opinion."
De la Fuente also denied that there had been any indication that Yamal was struggling physically before or in between the September internationals.
"I always tell the truth," the Spain coach insisted. "These are normal aches, controllable pains. He never reported anything before the game and only mentioned some discomfort afterward."
In the end, Yamal didn't join up with the Spain squad, as Barcelona revealed that he had aggravated his groin problem during the PSG match and is now facing an unspecified spell on the sidelines.
"With this kind of injury, it's not so easy to know [when he will return]," Flick said on the eve of Sunday's La Liga clash with Sevilla, which the Blaugrana lost 4-1. "It's not easy to say 'OK he can play in two, three or four weeks…' or if he's able to play the Clasico (on October 26). This is not possible. We have to wait.
"He trains with the recovery team and [will spend] the next weeks with them. We go step by step. We have to see how it evolves. We must manage his workload."
Some are now arguing, though, that neither Spain nor Barca have done a particularly good job of managing Yamal's workload so far.