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TNT Sports expert Owen Hargreaves hailed Lamine Yamal as the best 17-year-old he has ever seen on the pitch, comparing his impact on the game to that of a young Wayne Rooney.
Rooney burst onto the scene at 16 for Everton and made his England debut at 17. By the time Yamal was 17, he was spearheading Spain's charge to a fourth European title.
The Spaniard has kept that consistency throughout this season, notching up 29 goal contributions in all competitions as Barcelona aim to keep their La Liga lead intact.
"I've never seen a 17-year-old that consistent," Hargreaves said ahead of Barcelona's UEFA Champions League second leg against Benfica - live on TNT Sports and [discovery+](https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-tnt-sports-on-discoveryplus?utm_campaign=UK-TNT-D1-TNT-C7-TNT-BAU-DR-W-Football-ChampionsLeague-250101-NA&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tntsports.co.uk&utm_content=story-content-text-subscribe&vid=d11hb7c1fcm6w5q8&cid=0ee1b05714eadfd3193bf34fbc4e5980&c=%7B%22875074%22%3A%220%22%2C%221086912%22%3A%220%22%2C%221310352%22%3A%220%22%7D).
"You see players have flashes. I think back to seeing Wayne Rooney and thought he was out of this world, but this kid is just unbelievable.
"You could argue he's Barcelona's second or third-best player. He was Spain's best player at the Euros. And the fact that he's carrying this burden with such ease at 17 years old I just find remarkable. And he scores goals, creates goals, and he makes it look incredibly easy. The best 17-year-old I've seen.
"When you see young players, especially attacking players, they turn the ball over a lot because they play with a lot of risk. He looks like he's playing safe but he's not.
"You never see him make a mistake. Everything he does you think 'how did he do that'? He makes it look so easy. Off the pitch he's mature, but on the pitch he looks like he's 28."
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Steve McManaman added that Yamal showed shades of Michael Owen's sudden emergence in the game. Owen delivered his moment of magic for England with an astonishing goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, scored when he was just 18.
"It's all about consistency," he added. "Michael Owen scores that wonderful goal for England against Argentina at a very young age, but the fact that he scored in the semi-finals against France. He was only 16 then, of course, he goes on to play in the final and lift the trophy. He's won the Super Cup already and he's been very consistent for Barcelona who are top of the league this year. You'd have to say the way he starts his career is better than everybody else."
Flick pleads for referees to ‘protect the players’ as he sweats on Yamal fitness
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But like many that have come after, injuries were Owen's downfall and McManaman is wary of the Barca starlet being run into the ground.
"You just have to be careful because we saw it with Pedri, playing a lot. Saw it with Ansu Fati, Gavi, and they had horrific injuries from then on between the ages of 18 to 20 and it really affected them, so they need to be careful.
"I think he's at the right place because Barcelona are used to nurturing players. My only concern is injuries. I hope I'm not talking in a years' time saying he's got a bad injury, because that has happened at Barcelona. He's too good to be missing from the football field."
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