I've Seen Enough: Lamine Yamal is the Best Player in the World

Did I Mention He's Only 17?

How many more times can we watch this kid run circles around grown men before we admit it that we’re watching history be written right in front of our eyes?

Barcelona golden boy Lamine Yamal has had an amazing week: From dusting perennial rivals Real Madrid 3-2 in the Copa Del Rey Final to a stunning performance against Inter in the UCL semifinals first leg, every game at this point serves only to build on his claim for the vacant throne of Messi and Ronaldo.

There’s been a prevailing power struggle in the years since the two kings of football relinquished their domain, and in these years we’ve seen players rise to lay claim to their title. Kylian Mbappe and his incredible performances at Real Madrid, goal scoring robot Erling Haaland’s ongoing tenure of dominance as the face of Pep’s Man City project, and even the initial heir to Messi’s throne Ansu Fati, whose shine has flickered since his injury in 2019.

That said, there truly hasn’t been a player that made my heart beat like Messi and Ronaldo did until Lamine Yamal. I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a Barça fan, but I’ve found myself catching their games simply to watch him play. Where players like Vini Jr, Haaland, and Mbappe excel on the scoresheet, Yamal is a treat to the eyes and an Avenger-level threat to the opposition at all times.

I tried my hardest to look past the sheer novelty of Yamal’s age after he proved he could handle first-team football in a league like La Liga. From there, I tried to temper my expectations and recontextualize his perfomances into a mold that says “that’s pretty good for a kid his age”.

He’s broken that mold.

Yamal is a player who plays with the calm and maturity you rarely see in a player his age. Wingers at his age especially struggle to fight the urge to beeline for goal at every opportunity, and want the glory of scoring more than victory for the team. Yamal manages to avoid all of that and still find the gaps in his opposition, and place the ball EXACTLY where it needs to go.

"He is a player I had not seen live before and we had to double up on him,” said Inter manager Simone Inzaghi after this semifinal leg against Barça. “He is a phenomenon born every 50 years. He really impressed me today."

I want to add another reason to hedge our bets here- This is far from the first wonderkid the sport has seen. The key factor in his legacy will not only be his talent and ability, but his longevity. Erling Haaland may have bagged back-to-back record-breaking seasons, but he’d have to do that every season for the next 20 or so years to catch up to the goats. Lamine Yamal will have to do the same to reach these heights, even if he’s had a head start.

In the end, however, I really couldn’t care less if Yamal turns out to be everything he can be- all I’m concerned with is that he continues to play with every bit of confidence and skill he has- and keeps blowing my mind for as long as he can. There are reasons we call this the beautiful game, and he’s one of them.