Barcelona are in the middle of a topsy-turvy season as they have endured mixed results in La Liga and the Champions League under the reign of Xavi Hernandez. While they could end the season empty-handed they still possess an unlikely chance of ending with a double and giving a perfect send-off to departing coach Xavi. In the middle of that managerial crisis, the Catalan club has not failed to impress through its youth products as they compete on two fronts.
Lamine Yamal opens on a strange incident
One of the youth products of the famous La Masia academy is 16-year-old star Lamine Yamal who has been on the rise from the academy. Having made his debut for the club in the 2022-23 season, he has become the next big thing in the team and has now played in 28 league matches for the Spanish giants Barcelona. His name hasn’t gone unnoticed in the media and has attracted the attention of fans and rivals. He recently opened up on an incident where he spoke of a strange incident in the lift while spending time away from football.
“The weirdest thing that ever happened to me with a fan? Recently a girl came up to me, we were in an elevator. She asked me for a picture and said: ‘Give me your phone number, I need it. I don’t want it for anything, I just want to have it’. I didn’t know what to say to her, and we were in an elevator,” Yamal said while opening up on the incident.
The youngster also became the youngest player to play in a Champions League knockout match, aged 16 years and 223 days. He made the record appearance against Napoli in the Champions League clash against Italian side Napoli where he broke the previous record set by Paris Saint-Germain’s Warren Zaïre-Emery.
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Yamal to get Lionel Messi’s No.10?
It is also reported that Yamal could be handed the No. 10 kit at Barcelona next season which could be vacated if Ansu Fati is sold or loaned out again. The number was worn by the legendary duos of Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho during their time at the club. Fati became the latest recipient of the iconic No.10 when Messi was allowed to leave on a free transfer in 2021.
While Yamal is already compared to as the next big thing at Barcelona, getting the No.10 kit at the club would rubber stamp the claim.