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Lamine Yamal today is as old as Lionel Messi was when he made his first-team debut: 6,324 days old, roughly 17 years, 3 months, and 29 days.
The Argentine star debuted against Espanyol on the 16th of October in 2004, at the same stadium and against the same opponent as who Yamal last played against.
The comparisons between the two are inevitable, especially given the two met, by some odd, highly unlikely coincidence, when Yamal was a baby and Messi did a photoshoot for charity. The photo of a young Messi bathing a baby Yamal has only reinforced the faith some have that the youngster is truly the next “chosen one.”
Their paths at this age have diverted, however. Whereas Messi took a few years to mature in Barcelona’s youth academy and B team, Yamal was thrust into the spotlight at an extremely young age.
This was partly out of necessity, as Barcelona have suffered from financial issues lately and needed to lean on the youngster to get results. In Messi’s time, the club could afford more stars while Messi bid his time.
Yamal has answered the call in astonishing fashion. He has 13 goals and 17 assists in 83 games for FC Barcelona, with the stats increasing as he matures. He also scored one goal and assisted four others in the UEFA Euro 2024, which was won by Spain.
He has not been phased by comparisons to Messi, humbly suggesting that it would be an honor to achieve even half what the Argentine has done.
Development is not linear and no one quite knows where Yamal will end up, despite having a hotter start, at least on paper and in terms of stats and trophies won. Yamal has to continue improving each year, and avoid injuries that have scrambled the careers of other promising young players, notably Ansu Fati, who at some point was labeled as Messi’s heir too.
The comparisons to the GOAT are equally unfair as they are inevitable for Yamal, but he has handled them in stride and continues to dazzle on the pitch.
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