Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal justifying Lionel Messi comparisons
The New Messi. It's a phrase we have often heard, but perhaps this Lamine Yamal is the real deal. Playing for Barcelona, being left-footed but coming in off the right, some of the comparisons are obvious.
But Yamal is more emblematic of Messi than that. The 17-year-old is setting the world alight. The Kylian Mbappe's and Erling Haaland's of this world are still grabbing the headlines but, ever so quietly, this young winger is drifting on course for Ballon d'Or contention. The Euro 2024 win for Spain followed by this tremendous start to the new season, soon this prodigy will be known among the best in the game.
Whether or not Yamal is the most gifted footballer in the world today isn't up for debate. He is in a category of his own in terms of raw talent. But whether he can reach the heights of a certain Barcelona legend is another matter entirely.
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Lamine Yamal Transfer Value - how much is he worth now?
According to FootballTransfers' Player Valuation Model, Yamal has a current Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €83.1 million, while we have him as the 1st in Most Valuable Players under 21.
His value has crept up quite remarkably. It was €6.9m just this time last year. That makes it a near-enough 12-fold increase, and the attacker turned 17 just two months ago.
How much potential does Lamine Yamal have?
Yamal is an extraordinary threat in 1v1 situations. He makes those diagonal drives from the flanks upon receiving the ball on the half-turn. He typically cuts outside and makes those almost trademark-like passes. But make no mistake, this isn't Ashley Young-halcyon-days-at-Manchester-United-inverted-passing. His floated balls rival - or are even within - the top five in the world in terms of precision. We are talking almost Andrea Pirlo levels here.
Yamal is also an exquisite dribbler. He works effectively with both feet, creating unpredictable angles. He forges small pockets of space just beyond the box to unleash shots. Sometimes these don’t get into the far corner, but rather, are punched at ferocious speed into by the near post. A certain Inter Miami player did just the same in the Catalan capital.
Yamal’s exceptional season sees him rank at a WhoScored rating of 7.94. In La Liga he has found three goals from 1.86xG, a remarkable testament to his ability to find the net from distance.
But of course, the elephant in the rooms is Messi, a fellow La Masía graduate. Yamal is streets ahead of the superstar at his age but the Argentine went onto to reach unprecedented heights. It’s a feat that will likely never be achieved again in our lifetimes.
On the face of it, one of the main components of Messi was his stats; the otherworldly 91 goals in a year being the apex of his career.
You look at the numbers, his goal contributions every season - you can even rewatch all his finishes online, but it does not amount to what Messi was (and technically is) when it was experienced live.
You watched games for Messi. During his prime, whenever Messi got the ball, your pupils dilated. He did things that made you stand up and make a series of exalted grunts and noises that even a night with a steamy lover would not equate to. Messi wasn't a brilliant, world-class footballer like Cristiano Ronaldo, he was a certified freak. A man whose ability in the Victorian times would have made him a world attraction in a circus tent; the main act. Experiments would've been done on his brain by unscrupulous anatomists following his passing to see what ungodly element differs from the regular human.
Yamal is getting that way now. That's the biggest compliment you can give him. He is two years younger than Leo "the Lion" when he first grasped the Camp Nou by the neck. This writer is still reluctant to believe that Messi could be replaced at this point in time; we would need to wait 100 years or more for that to happen. The passing of the torch has come too soon to be coincidental. But yes, Yamal is the closest thing we will see to Messi in a very long time - and that in itself is saying something.
This article was provided by FootballTransfers.
