Former Barcelona youth coach lavishes praise on Lamine Yamal – ‘You know there’s something special’
The meteoric rise of Lamine Yamal at FC Barcelona, at the tender age of only 18 years, has not been a coincidence. From his earliest steps in youth football, the La Masia forward showed clear signs of...
Former Barcelona youth coach lavishes praise on Lamine Yamal – ‘You know there’s something special’ The meteoric rise of Lamine Yamal at FC Barcelona , at the tender age of only 18 years, has not been a coincidence. From his earliest steps in youth football, the La Masia forward showed clear signs of his potential to become a star. And, one of the key figures who witnessed that development first-hand was Javier Saviola.
A former Barcelona player, the Argentine was the assistant coach of the club’s Juvenil A outfit when Lamine broke through. He was directly involved in the development of several current first-team players, including Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Hector Fort (on loan at Elche). Saviola on Lamine Yamal’s breakthrough Speaking to SPORT in an interview, Saviola reflected on that generation of young talents, with particular focus on Lamine and his explosion.
“We saw Lamine as different from the rest, for example, in the way he covered ground. When you see players like Messi, whom I had the chance to watch when I was 12-13, you realise it right away, because you’ve been involved in football for a long time,” he said. “When such a young player shows something different, especially qualities that are rare at that age, you know there’s something special.
And that’s what happened with Lamine,” Saviola acknowledged. Javier Saviola worked with Lamine Yamal at La Masia. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) Continuing, he admitted: “We weren’t worried about his footballing ability, but rather how to manage him, because we knew that in the future he would have a great chance of making it into Barça’s first team.