CNN
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Lamine Yamal is still only 17 years old, didn’t you know?
The chances are you’ve heard that a lot recently, especially over the past 24 hours following his sumptuous performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League. But it really does bear repeating because what Yamal is doing at 17 is not normal.
And you’ll probably be hearing it a lot more until July 13, when he turns 18.
Even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, by far the two best players of their generation, didn’t even come close to touching the heights Yamal has already.
This stat will give you some idea as to just how far Yamal is along in his development.
At 17, Messi had played in nine matches, scored one goal and provided zero assists. Ronaldo had five goals and four assists in 19 matches. Yamal? 100 matches, 22 goals and 33 assists.
Again, this is not normal.
Since making his first-team debut aged 15 in 2023, Yamal has already gone on to win a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey and the 2024 European Championships with Spain.
But it’s not just that Yamal is consistently producing the goods when it matters most, he does so with a swagger and fearlessness that belies his green years.
He plays with total joy and freedom, too, as though each time he steps onto the pitch he’s merely having a kickaround with his friends at the park.
The way Yamal can control his body, feinting this way and that and transferring his body weight from one side to the other, makes him a nightmare to defend.
One moment against Inter highlighted this control perfectly, as Yamal dropped a shoulder and produced a perfect ‘Marseille turn’ to bamboozle two defenders.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick called Yamal “a genius.”
“He’s special,” Flick told reporters. “After the game, when you see the situations he has in the match, you see all the details and it’s unbelievable how he does it.”
Inter manager Simone Inzaghi described Yamal as a generational talent.
“Lamine caused us so many problems,” he told reporters, per Marca. “He’s a talent that comes along every 50 years. I saw him live for the first time today; we doubled up on marking him, tripled him, and he still did that.
“We tweaked some things; it’s easier in front of a computer or a microphone. He’s a player who impressed me and caused us a lot of problems in the last half hour.”
TNT pundit and former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said Yamal’s performance on Wednesday was “mesmerizing this whole stadium.”
“Just to see a young 17-year-old, the amount of times he actually had the ball, the amount of times he impacted a sequence of play,” Ferdinand said on TNT.
“Every part of his foot he was using today; the different detail, the different ways he was moving his body to receive the ball, just every facet of his game today was on show, and it was quite beautiful to be here and be a part of.”
Ferdinand also praised Yamal’s decision making and the way he is able to make an impression at crucial times in a match.
“He’s 17 years old, he has 100 appearances and the way he’s just taking over games for moments, it’s just great to see that,” he added. “When I talk about the best, pure talent, he has the ability to play different ways in a football match.
“He can affect the game through just passing and being a creator, he can also run past people and eliminate players, and then finishing. To do that makes him a very unique proposition.”
Fellow TNT pundit and former footballer Ally McCoist said Yamal’s first-half performance was “as good a 45 minutes for an individual I’ve seen certainly in a long, long time.”
He added: “To watch him close at hand – he looked to be 30 or 40 yards in front of us – there were balls with the outside of his left foot, inside of his left foot. His goal, for example, was just majestic.
“There were just so many aspects to his game today. He was absolutely first class and to think a 17-year-old boy, I know he plays with freedom, but it’s like he’s been playing for 15, 20 years. His game knowledge is absolutely incredible for a 17-year-old.”
