Lamine Yamal has the world at his feet having shone for Barcelona and the Spain national team but the youngster has been sent a warning from former wonderkid Freddy Adu
Lamine Yamal
Lamine Yamal has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Barcelona
(Image: Getty Images)
Lamine Yamal has been warned to block out all distractions by former wonderkid Freddy Adu. The 18-year-old has shone over recent seasons having made his Barcelona debut during the 2022/23 season.
He has gone on to make 108 appearances for the Catalan giants and enjoyed his best season so far last term with 18 goals to his name. In that time, Yamal has won two La Liga crowns and the Copa del Rey.
The teenager has also earned international recognition having won the Euros with Spain only last summer. But he has been warned that the spotlight could bring some unwanted attention.
Adu - who had a trial at Manchester United as a youngster - has urged Yamal to keep his feet firmly on the ground. Adu, speaking via an online betting site, said: “So obviously all eyes are on him all the time, and that's hard. That's really hard. For me personally, I couldn't just be a regular kid, and this is coming from someone in America and in the States, football isn't even the biggest sport here!
“Yet I was going through that. I can't even imagine how it is for him over there in Spain. It's probably just magnified 1000 times, because that is the national sport.
“He plays for the biggest team, it's the national sport, everywhere he goes, everything he does; all eyes are on him. And that's hard. As a young player, when you're put in a situation like that, it's just very, very difficult to handle.”
Asked how Yamal would be best served adapting to his new-found fame, he replied: “My advice would be for him to just put his head down, train and just focus on his craft. Because there will be a lot of distractions. And I'm sure there is right now.
“I mean, there's been some stuff in the newspapers that I've seen where he was with a woman that was way older than he was or whatever, on vacation and whatnot, and everybody's talking about it. Every little thing he does is going to be talked about.
Freddy Adu
Freddy Adu had a short trial with Man United during his playing career
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“If you’re going to go on holiday with an older woman just make sure the only person you go with is your mother! Because at this point, no matter what you it’s going to get talked about, and it's a lot of distractions. So you don't want to make let that become your whole narrative surrounding you as a player. You don't want that. You wanted to be focused on the field.
"When I was young, I made a lot of mistakes. I was young, and I made mistakes. I hung out with some friends and somebody took a picture of me out at a party or whatever, and it became a big deal. I didn't think it was, but it became a big deal. And then the narrative becomes that you're not focused on your game, that you're just out here hanging out with your friends and party.”
Barcelona have enjoyed a perfect start to the season, with Yamal having already found the net. He will be aiming to extend that form this weekend with a trip to Rayo Vallecano.
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