Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is the talk of the football world.
The Spain international is performing at the highest level at just 17 and many are currently debating if the Barca winger is the best teenager they have ever seen, having already won the European Championship with Spain last summer, while being on course to win La Liga during the current campaign.
Erling Haaland was impressed with Yamal’s display in the first leg of Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final with Inter, a performance the Spanish youngster would nearly match in the second leg.
These were only two of many seen throughout the 2024/25 campaign from the Barca superstar, and Jamie Carragher already believes Yamal will become a better player than Haaland.
Gary Neville agrees with his Sky Sports colleague on how special Yamal can be, and the former Man United defender also believes that the Barcelona star could follow in the footsteps of a current player in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
Photo by MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by MB Media/Getty Images
Gary Neville says Lamine Yamal can be like Bernardo Silva
At just 17, Yamal has already shown his immense technical ability, with the youngster displaying some elite crossing and passing throughout the current campaign.
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The Spaniard has also shown how intelligent he can be, and having started on the right wing before moving more centrally later in his career, Neville thinks Yamal could follow the path laid out by Bernardo Silva at Man City.
“I was thinking about him (Yamal), I got asked that the other day (if it is a bad thing to be so good at 17), I was thinking about Yamal, he could easily go and play in midfield like Bernardo Silva or David Silva did towards the end of their careers,” Neville said on the latest episode of Stick To Football.
“Giggsy went inside, you (Paul Scholes) went deeper, so you changed. Players with that technical ability have, if he can keep relatively fit, he is going to lose a yard, isn’t he, when he is 33 or 32? So can he go play off the front?”
Man City fans may want Silva to leave this summer, but overall, the 30-year-old has been a huge hit at the Etihad Stadium ever since making the £43m move from Monaco in 2017, with the Portuguese star going on to become one of the Manchester club’s greatest ever players.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Yamal and where he will play in the future, but the winger would likely be very happy if he had a similar career to the 30-year-old.
How Lamine Yamal compares to Bernardo Silva
There are similarities between Silva and Yamal as both are left-footed wingers who are deployed out on the right.
Both are extremely technical and are a dream for their teammates to play with, as they can pick out a pass with very little effort and find players in the box with beautiful crosses. The dribbling ability of both stars is also at an elite level and their work off the ball is another trait fans love.
An advantage Yamal has over Silva is his speed, while the Portuguese star could be seen as more intelligent, as the Man City midfielder has a very high football IQ.
That may come with time for the Barcelona superstar, but Neville’s prediction for the youngster may not be far off, as the 17-year-old would be more than capable of playing as a number 10 further down the line.