Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to represent Barcelona in La Liga when he came off the bench in Saturday’s win at home to Real Betis.
The Blaugrana bounced back from a shock defeat to Rayo Vallecano by beating Real Betis 4-0 courtesy of goals from Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and an own goal from Guido Rodriguez.
And Xavi Hernandez was able to bring on Yamal, who is considered to be one of the club’s brightest talents.
Yamal, a Spain youth international, is already playing ahead of his age category for the Juvenil A, Barca’s Under 19 side.
He’s been on the cusp of the first-team, with Xavi said to be in “love” with the winger. Yamal has trained with the first-teamers and was named in the matchday squad for the game against Atletico Madrid.
The wonderkid, born in 2007, made history at the Nou Camp on Saturday night when he became the club’s youngest ever player after replacing fellow starlet Gavi.
But, wearing the No.41 shirt, he looked completely at home from the very off in his cameo and nearly registered an outrageous assist.
Yamal threaded through a glorious defence-splitting pass with his wand of a left foot and a better touch from Ousmane Dembele would have surely delivered a fifth goal.
Because he’s still so young, Yamal hasn’t even signed a professional contract with Barca but will be able to do so as soon as he turns 16 in July.
He has been at the Catalan club since he was seven and had been represented by former Barca and Espanyol midfielder Ivan de la Pena.
However, superagent Jorge Mendes is now handling Yamal as he looks to make the grade at Barca.
Xavi is so high on Yamal and showered him with huge praise recently when he said “he can mark an era in the club’s history.”
“He has personality, talent, the final pass, on-on-one, he’s strong, he’s got a great attitude and he’s had wonderful training sessions this week,” Xavi said prior to including him in his squad.
“He can mark an era in the club’s history. Without fear, we’ll put him in the squad. I have spoken to him and he is grateful and happy. If he is able to participate, I’m sure he will help us.”
