Barcelona fans would probably describe Lamine Yamal as priceless right now, but the young star has had opportunities to leave the club already, with big money offers put before him. However, one person in particular persuaded the 17-year-old to stay at the Nou Camp.
It is not unusual for Barcelona to have world class players in their side, and indeed, top talents emerge from their academy with frightening regularity, but it seems Yamal is developing into a generational star.
The teenager made his big breakthrough with Barca last season, having been thrown into the first-team, and played almost every single game for his boyhood club in all competitions, before announcing himself on the world stage at Euro 2024.
Simply put, there are very few players who are in as exciting and effective form as Yamal right now. The recent Ballon d'Or awards confirmed as much, with Yamal claiming the 2024 Kopa Trophy, and coming in eighth place in the overall ranking for the men's award.
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Understandably, then, Barcelona want to hold on to this prodigous talent at all costs, and the Catalan club have snubbed the advances of PSG this year twice already. That's according to a report from Mundo Deportivo, which claims the French giants had offers of €200 million and €250 million knocked back in January and in the summer.
Years earlier, though, Yamal had the chance to leave Barcelona's youth team and join PSG when he was just 15-years-old. Apparently, Yamal was presented with a "dizzying" proposal by PSG prior to signing his first professional contract at Barcelona.
The youngster could have left Spain and moved to France on a free transfer, but his manager at the time, Xavi Hernandez, intervened. Apparently, Xavi persuaded Yamal to stick around, with a promise that he would make his first-team debut as soon as possible.
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This is not the first time Yamal has been linked with a move away from Barcelona, and it likely won't be the last. Due to Barca's financial difficulties, Yamal has been mooted as a target for Arsenal and Liverpool.
His contract with Barcelona runs until 2026, but it will be fascinating to see how the next two years unfold if Yamal continues on his current trajectory, as more and more suitors will no doubt be looking to prise him away from Catalonia.
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona, FC Barcelona, Spain, PSG
Jakob Barnes