The FC Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal has been dazzling the football world ever since making his debut, displaying remarkable maturity and talent well beyond his years. At just 18, he has already become a cornerstone of the Blaugrana attack and one of the most exciting players on the global stage.
His performances in the last two seasons have helped him become not only a key part of this Blaugrana team, but also one of the very best players in the world.
This latter aspect was confirmed in the last Ballon d’Or ceremony, when he stood second only to Ousmane Dembele, who is his senior by a number of years, in the ranking for the biggest individual prize in football.
However, his ascent to stardom has also made his private life a talking point for the media, and some of his activities have been taking a lot of the spotlight in the last few days.
Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona celebrates his teams second goal scored by Robert Lewandowski of FC Barcelona (not pictured) during the LaLiga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images
In the midst of this situation, the young Spaniard has received words of support from an unexpected source, one of his fiercest rivals, Kylian Mbappe.
In a preview of his upcoming appearance on Universo Valdano (via Mundo Deportivo), the Real Madrid superstar urged the public and media to give Yamal space to live his life outside football.
“People talk too much about his personal life; I think they need to leave him alone. On the pitch, he’s a great player, but in life, he’s just an 18-year-old kid.”
So far, Lamine Yamal has not allowed this noise to impact his performances on the pitch, for FC Barcelona or for Spain. However, remaining in this media spotlight can still prove to be overwhelming, especially for a player as young as Yamal, and hopefully, this attention on his private life will soon subside.