Can Lamine Yamal be one of soccer’s best ever: Barcelona’s teenager is already putting up eye-popping numbers

Lamine Yamal is probably not the best player in the world. That that must say about a football player before his 18th birthday speaks to the ridiculous talent of this specific prodigy child. The business end of the season is approaching quickly, in those coming weeks it may be that Yamal will at least be located under the contenders for the Post-Lionel Messi Crown.

At any age, the output of Yamal would be excellent this season. Especially in La Liga he stands out as one of the excellent artists. His 12 assists leads closest to the nearest rival Raphinha with three and he also has an advantage over his teammate for expected assisted goals, which follows the value of the opportunities he creates directly for teammates. When it comes to getting the ball in the most dangerous places on the field, nobody does this with the frequency of Yamal. He has 83 passes in the criminal area. Pedri in second place has 68. More goal to make actions than anyone else, more shooting also make that: the list continues.

In short, this season there is no better maker in the Spanish top flight than the 17-year-old.

You could also make a similar compelling matter when it comes to ball progression. Yamal is crucial to bring Barcelona to the areas where he weaves his magic, which La Liga leads in successful tasks, the second only in Vinicius Junior carries both progressive and in the penalty area.

On the other hand, only a select number – this column including – are getting dizzy because Yamal is on so many statistics in the 99th percentile. What so many others rub in disbelief about their eyeballs are moments that believe his childhood. It sometimes feels like the boy from Rocafonda has found time to take the entire football history so that he knows the right choice without having learned as everyone does: consistently make the wrong one.

Take his goal to add salt to Borussia Dortmund wounds in the 4-0 Champions League quarterfinals first leg victory earlier this month. Played by Raphinha, he seemed to instinctively understand that his heavy first touch Ramy Bensebaini would enable the ball to hit his toes. There is no time to withdraw and hit the goal, while pushing the ball away from the full back of the cover would probably sharpen the corner and slow the attacking momentum.

In less time than it took you to read that, Yamal concluded that the best option was a film of his toe, so that the ball led with so much precision that it was all Gregor Kobel to be in admiration. Again, 17 years old.

Then there are the entire series of delicate chips to the rear pole and outside the Laarskruis, the choice of the latter a 40 Yard Pearler to give Raphinha an excellent score. However, there is many more, so many of them come to fly along the flank with full tilt. There are experienced professionals who have not ever been over the ball as Yamal does routinely. The fact that he does this also reflects a fast -growing understanding of what the opposition will and will not give him. Everyone has seen that goal in the semi -final of the Euro 2024. If he is not allowed to shoot and is shown along the line, he will still exploit his stronger foot.

After all this you might wonder what his balloon d’Or case hinders. At least they are the goals for the time being. A return of 14 in 47 games in all competitions cannot be sniffed, especially when there are 22 assists to go with them. However, making his shot is the only place that the youth of Yamal shines through. He has that particularly young wing playing quality to name his shot, regardless of the situation – again … Euro 2024 … you can understand why he supports himself – so that he leaves a lot of efforts that, Ahem, are optimistic. There are many small red dots in that image below.

There is no reason to believe that a player of his calmness and rapid development will not have smoothed this specific nod too long. Most coaches will tell you that it is a lot easier to coach bad shots from the game of a player than to coach shots in a game. And with 4.19 shots worth 0.31 xg per 90 minutes, Yamal does not have to be told to persuade the tractor.

A few more goals, a few less bad shots, that is really about changing Yamal into a real best in the game attacker. It can be done at the end of his teenage years. What all rather leads to the questions that can be asked well of this player – how does he relate to the greats of all time of the game? Is he better than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo at this age?

The answer is unknowable. In his age of 17, Messi looked up while Frank Rijkard’s Barcelona La Liga dominated. Cristiano Ronaldo was not 18 until he attracted the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson. Even those who, because of the young vomiting such as Kylian Mbappe and Wayne Rooney, were at this age excited in flashes. By the time he turned 18 in July, Yamal may have 5,000 La Liga minute in the tank, 24 Champions League matches, perhaps the medals of La Liga and Champions League winner to go alongside his prices of Euro 2024.

If you want players who are something special similar to Yamal in such a tender age, it is best to dig through the early years of South American greats. Ronaldo Nazario Blited his way through the defense in a Cruzeiro shirt, Diego Maradona earned the title The golden child And Pele who set the records to large tournaments that Yamal would match.

It will of course be the best part of two decades before it is clear at all whether Yamal belongs in the same historical conversation as mentioned above. Although their career was excellent, Rooney and even to a certain extent Brazilian Ronaldo speak to the pitfalls that a player with all attributes can touch. All of that does not mean the tension that so many minutes would place on the body of a player at such a young age.

It is one thing to be about to be the best player in the world at the age of only 17, it is another to keep that title for a year and a half, as the true big ones did. At least Yamal has enough time by his side.