All of football at the feet of Lamine Yamal, from Spain to Barcelona. The problem is that the Blaugrana phenomenon has not even turned 19: we tend to forget this from time to time, and it’s hard to blame ourselves when watching him play. Too dominant, too brilliant, therefore indispensable. However, while the player’s talent has already blossomed with record precocity, it should not be overlooked that his physique remains that of a boy his age. Yet he is subjected to loads and efforts beyond the ordinary, culminating in a series of injuries resulting from excess. The most recent, a hamstring injury to his left leg, will cause him to miss the final part of La Liga. It could have been worse: for hours Spain held its breath, facing the unheard-of prospect of a World Cup without Yamal.
The specific case, however, demands reflection. Already 55 goals and 64 assists in his career between club and senior national team, for a total of 176 appearances. These are scorching numbers that reflect a player unmatched among his peers. Even in terms of playing time: as highlighted by this special ranking compiled by ESPN, among Under 19 players, there is Lamine Yamal and then the rest of the world. The Blaugrana number ten has logged a remarkable 12,680 minutes on the pitch. Behind him, in second place, is Jude Bellingham with 9,919: even 22% less. And from there on, the rest of the ranking becomes quite uniform. Third is Cubarsì (9,135 minutes), fourth Sessegnon (8,809), and so on. Even extending the database to the early nineties, the overview does not change. Even Owen and Rooney look up at the new gold of Camp Nou.
In short, the enormous exception is Lamine. Who this season ranks among the most used players overall, as long as he was available. Squeezed and contested between Barça and the national team, because no one, at the moment, can afford to give up his immense talent without considering the consequences. After all, it’s a understandable dynamic: Hansi Flick and Luis de la Fuente, due to the obligations of their coaching jobs, are called to respond to the present. If they were to decide overnight to rest Yamal for health reasons, “as a precaution,” and then the Blaugrana or La Roja were to lose, you can imagine the controversies. And they would be the ones to pay the price personally.
For this reason, the club and national team should start to coordinate a common strategy, together with the entire football system without regard for the density of the calendars – already unsustainable for an adult professional, let alone for the body of an ever-evolving teenager. There is no doubt, it is conceptually irreconcilable that Lamine Yamal is the strongest player in La Liga – and perhaps in Europe, in the World – and that the same Lamine Yamal is only 18 years old. But this is the case. And if, in addition to expressing talent, there is no work done to protect it, we would be facing a discouraging defeat for all of sport. After all, historical precedents are not at all favorable. The list is long: young Camavinga has missed 50 matches due to injury since arriving at Real Madrid in 2021; Muniain scored the earliest goal in La Liga history, but then tore his anterior cruciate ligament just as early and has never been the same; Gavi was already a starter at Barça at 16, but suffered the same fate and is still trying to bounce back; Michael Owen had signed his record season, a prelude to a dazzling career, at just 17, but then was plagued by physical troubles. And none of them, it must be reiterated, was Lamine Yamal.