Barcelona, Lamine Yamal’s club, has just turned down a proposal of 1.5 billion reais (250 million euros) for the star. The offer was made by the French club, PSG.
Yamal will turn 17 on July 13th. Despite being young, he has been a star on the pitch wearing the Spanish national team’s shirt, especially in the Euro championship. This week, the player scored a fundamental goal, which helped the team beat France and secure a place in the tournament final.
Of African descent — his mother was born in Equatorial Guinea and his father in Morocco — Yamal was discovered by scouts at the age of 7, while playing in the Rocafonda neighborhood, 30 kilometers from Barcelona. Since then, he has lived at Barcelona’s training center.
Even though today he lives in another neighborhood, he always makes a point of highlighting his ancestry. He has the flag of his parents’ country of origin printed on his football boots and his trademark goal celebration (this one shown in the photo) represents the number 304, which is the zip code of the neighborhood where he lives.
Yamal was the youngest player to play for Barcelona (at the age of 15) and the youngest to score a goal for the Spanish national team (at the age of 16). Now, he has just set a new record: that of the youngest player and goal scorer in the history of the Euro Championship.
Born in 2007, he was one of the babies who starred in a Barcelona charity campaign. In the photos, he appears with Lionel Messi, who at the time was a Barcelona player. There are those who joke on the internet saying that it was the Argentine star’s touch that made Yamal become this phenomenon on the pitch.
On July 14th, he will take to the field once again, playing in the European Championship final against the English team.
With so much talent, how much more can he achieve?
