Lamine Yamal, only 15 years old, is already Barça history. The young player has become the youngest player to enter a first team call-up. Xavi Hernández, the Barça coach, has decided to summon the cadet for a match of great importance such as the one that will face them against Atlético de Madrid.
Born in Mataró. Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana (Mataró, Spain, July 13, 2007) is a second-year cadet. Despite his young age, he has played the entire season with Juvenil A. He has never entered any squad with Barça B, nor has he trained with B, which is why this decision is more surprising.
The striker, who will do the next pre-season with the first team, is part of Xavi Hernández’s plans. “He is a player who can help us despite his age. He has a lot of personality, talent… We are facing a footballer who can mark a stage in the club”, he assured at a press conference this morning.
“Lamine has things from several footballers. She’s an innate talent. She’s not afraid. The new generations are not afraid and they have a terrible self-confidence, that’s what I see in Lamine. She’s had wonderful training sessions, that’s why I thought that the best was to put him on the list”, said Xavi.
The player’s contract ends this season, so this call-up is a message to make it clear that at Barça he is considered an important player for the future. The club tries to prevent Jorge Mendes, the player’s representative, from taking him out of Barça at the end of the course.
After having exercised with the rest of the group in the last training sessions, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong return to the squad after leaving behind their injuries and receiving a medical discharge. Two very important additions for this final stretch of the League.
Pedri and De Jong aim to be starters in the duel against Atlético, a key game to return to the path of victory after two consecutive draws. Players and technical staff have taken care of even the smallest detail to avoid any relapse and both are now fully recovered and available for Xavi Hernández.
This is the Barça squad to face Atlético de Madrid at the Camp Nou: Ter Stegen, Iñaki Peña, Arnau Tenas, Araujo, Busquets, Pedri, Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba, Kessie, Sergi Roberto , Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha, Koundé, Eric Garcia, Balde, Gavi, Pablo Torre, Alarcón and Lamine Yamal.
