The three Barcelona icons Lamine Yamal idolised growing up
During an interview last year, Lamine Yamal revealed the three Barcelona icons that he idolised while he was growing up.
The 17-year-old has been thrust into the limelight over the past couple of years and is nowadays considered one of the best players in the world.
He’s been in the Barcelona academy since he was six years old and unsurprisingly, he’s been a fan ever since.
Back in December last year, Marca asked who his idols were and these were the three names that he gave.
Lionel Messi
Unsurprisingly, Yamal named Messi as the first player that he idolised.
Growing up as a Barcelona fan and playing in their academy while Messi was at his peak had to be quite an experience.
Due to Yamal’s technique and wand of a left foot, he’s constantly been compared to Messi since making his breakthrough, although the 17-year-old is keen to forge his own path in the game.
“I don’t compare myself to him, because I don’t compare myself to anyone, and much less with Messi,” Yamal said in a recent press conference.
“I don’t think the comparison makes sense, with Messi even less, I’m going to enjoy myself, and be myself.
“I admire him obviously, as the best player in history, but I don’t compare myself to him.”
Messi himself has spoken highly of Yamal and also rates him as one of the best players on the planet right now.
Yamal recently made his 100th appearance for Barcelona and produced his 55th goal contribution in the process.
For context, Messi produced 56 goal contributions in his first 100 Barcelona appearances. There’s not much to separate them, is there?
Neymar
The Brazilian’s impact on the next generation of footballers is unquestionable.
From Jamal Musiala and Harvey Elliott to Rodrygo and Yamal, countless upcoming stars have named Neymar as one of their idols while growing up.
In the case of Yamal, he was only six years old when Neymar joined Barcelona back in 2013, but he’s no doubt watched his career very closely since then.
“We would meet after school at a friend’s house because he had a computer,” Yamal reminisced.
“We would put on videos of Neymar and we would watch all afternoon and then I would sleep at home and I would do that at home in my room.”
While the Brazilian may no longer be at the very peak of his powers, we’d still love to see him play alongside Yamal one day.
Ronaldinho
Yamal was too young to witness Ronaldinho in his prime, but he would’ve caught the back end of his career while growing up.
The Brazilian star lifted the Ballon d’Or in 2005, a whopping two years before Yamal had even been born.
Regardless of Yamal being too young to witness his peak, Ronaldinho is unquestionably one of the most unique players of his generation, who paved the way for skilful tricksters.
When discussing his reason for picking Ronaldinho, Yamal said: “Mainly for his fun style, his way of living the game…always trying something new.”
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