Barcelona were reluctant to start Lamine Yamal at a young age for fear that other clubs would poach him before he signed a contract.
Yamal only turned 17 in July but he has proven himself as one of the best players in the world.
An impressive first season in the Barca first team saw him score seven goals and nine assists in 50 games, and he has four goals and four assists in six games this season. Sandwiched between this fine club form was a successful summer with Spain, leading his country to Euro 2024 glory.
Former Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff, who will leave the club in 2023, has revealed that he and former coach Xavi were keen to play Yamal even earlier than planned. But since he was not under a professional contract, they were worried that he would be offered more money elsewhere if his talent was shown to the world, while. AS reports the club ‘hid him’.
“The first is for training [with the first team]after five minutes the coach, who was Xavi, looked at us and said ‘this is special’,” said Cruyff. Movistar Plus.
“I wanted to give him his first game as soon as possible, but we didn’t have a contract with this boy, so we had to first make sure that he would be ours for many years.
“Even veterans can see that he is different, it is very difficult to find him.
Cruyff was speaking after Yamal scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in Thursday’s 2-1 defeat by AS Monaco.
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