His mother worries about him, Xavi sings his praises. Lamine Yamal is a difference maker for Barcelona even at 16, coach must beware

The youngster named Lamine Yamal was already being talked about last season. He was still only 15 years old when, at the end of the season, he got the chance to play his first minutes in La Liga with Barcelona. However, this season he has been getting a lot more space and in his last game he was a hero.

He made his debut last season. He was only 15 years old when he came on at the end of the game against Betis. There has been a lot of talk that Lamine Yamal has huge potential and that one day he will be a big star for Barcelona.

But that day has already come. Already in training, the youngster, who celebrated his 16th birthday in July, was given a lot of space. He has started every game in La Liga this season. He was a substitute for the first one, and the next two he was in the starting line-up.

In both games he started as a member of the starting eleven, he put in a quality performance, but especially against Villarreal he asked for a lot of attention. He notched his first assist, almost scored a goal, thanks in large part to Robert Lewandowski.

against Villarreal, the 16-year-old native of Catalonia was named player of the match. He was applauded by the opposing fans as he left the field during the substitution. An incredible thing at his age.

He himself wants to continue to be part of the starting line-up, but there’s a catch. “My mother gets scared when I come into the game. But she supports me a lot and luckily I’m not afraid. I try to forget all the stress and do what I’m good at, which is playing football,” Marca quotes him as saying.

While his mother is worried about Yamal, the Barcelona coach sings odes to him. “He is a difference player. He’s smart, he makes good decisions and in football, making the right decisions is the most important thing for a player,” Xavi commented, according to Football-Espana.

Xavi, by the way, pointed out that Lamine is definitely not starting in the starting lineup on a whim, but because of his qualities. However, there are also a few catches. Barcelona must not get too attached to him.

One reason is that Yamal could be called up for the Under-17 World Cup from November 10 to December 2. The other reason is to avoid an extreme overload on the talented footballer.

A prime example of what can happen when a young player is overloaded is midfielder Pedri, another big Barcelona star who jumped into an extreme amount of games during his breakthrough season and subsequently started having health problems.

Pedri, meanwhile, faced the burden at an older age than Yamal, who is only 16.

Source: Marca, La Liga, Transfermarkt, Football-España