Lamine Yamal has spent the season dazzling Barcelona with moments of pure brilliance that recall the easy play of Neymar in his peak years. But behind the enjoyment of watching a generational expertise emerge, an odd and sudden concern has crept into the membership’s management. They worry that {the teenager}, who returned to coaching this week with a putting new look, could also be drifting towards a path the workforce as soon as lived via — and barely survived. And whereas the rationale stays hidden in whispers for now, it has turn into critical sufficient to generate inside dialogue simply as he prepares for a symbolic Spotify Camp Nou comeback.
Yamal lately stepped out with a contemporary haircut — almost equivalent to the one Neymar at the moment wears — and in response to experiences, he even visited the similar stylists to recreate it. What appeared to followers as a innocent imitation has been interpreted very otherwise contained in the membership.
In keeping with OkDiario, the Barcelona hierarchy is feeling uneasy. Chief pundit Eduardo Inda instructed El Chiringuito: “In Barca, there’s a little concern with him as a result of they contemplate that he’s Neymarizing.” The time period is loaded. For a membership that after misplaced management of a sporting venture as a result of a celebrity’s rising entourage, business obligations, and nightlife temptations, the thought of Yamal adopting even symbolic components of Neymar’s way of life triggers speedy alarm.
Inda added: “They don’t like that Lamine Yamal has a delusion or a mirror by which to take a look at himself as Neymar… They ask him to mimic Messi, who’s exemplary.” It was not simply the haircut. The identical pundit revealed: “The membership didn’t like that he spent 10 days in Rio with Neymar final summer season.”
Barcelona’s management believes Yamal has essential private protections — “he’s Muslim and doesn’t drink,” Inda famous — however they nonetheless need him to mannequin himself after quieter, extra disciplined figures.
Profession Barcelona as soon as needed to rescue
Yamal’s difficult historical past amplifies the fears — one Barcelona is aware of higher than anybody. Journalist Xavi Torres defined the complete story to Sport: “La Masia saved Lamine Yamal. It’s that straightforward. Barca saved Lamine as a result of when he was 12 years previous, he had misplaced habits associated to finding out, relaxation, and vitamin.”
Torres detailed how Yamal moved between households in Granollers and Rocafonda, lived removed from structured environments, and was drifting academically. Barcelona broke all of its guidelines to confess him early: “They broke all the foundations, they took him in, and three years later he made his debut with the primary workforce… It’s a clear-cut case of Barca saving Lamine’s profession.” This is the reason the membership reacts sharply to warning indicators. They know the journey he has already survived — and the way simply distraction may derail it.
Stress from inside: Father’s affect and PSG’s shadow
French journalist Romain Molina added one other troubling layer: rising rigidity between Barcelona and Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui. On his YouTube channel, he claimed: “The membership is pissed off with Nasraoui’s steady calls for and rising affect.”
In keeping with Molina, Yamal’s father as soon as pushed the workforce right into a $346,000-per-week contract, reacted angrily when Ousmane Dembele gained the Ballon d’Or, and has been granted non-public jet privileges harking back to Neymar’s household affect earlier than his 2017 departure. The Blaugrana reportedly fears a situation by which Nasraoui may engineer a PSG-style exit.
