{"id":41481,"date":"2026-06-16T14:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41481\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:06:21","slug":"paul-pogba-names-barcelona-star-among-the-three-best-players-in-the-world-if-he-isnt-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41481\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Pogba names Barcelona star among the three best players in the world: &#8216;If he isn\u2019t first&#8230;&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamine Yamal\u2019s rise to football superstardom continues to attract admiration from some of the biggest names in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest high-profile figure to praise the Barcelona sensation is Paul Pogba, who believes the teenager already belongs among the very best players in world football.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It must be noted that the former France international has developed a close connection to Barcelona\u2019s dressing room through his friendship with Ansu Fati.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That relationship has also given him a closer perspective on Yamal, one of the brightest young talents of the current generation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Pogba is not participating in the World Cup this summer, the Monaco midfielder has been rebuilding his career following a difficult period that included a lengthy suspension.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now back on the pitch, the 33-year-old remains one of football\u2019s most recognisable voices, and his comments about Yamal have quickly drawn attention.<\/p>\n<p>Pogba places Yamal among football\u2019s elite<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/spain-v-cabo-verde-group-h-fifa-world-cup-2026-6-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Lamine Yamal, Spain and Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-202642\"  \/>Pogba has nothing but praise for Lamine Yamal. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking during an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elchiringuitotv\/status\/2066647599872881119\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">El Chiringuito<\/a>, Pogba made it clear just how highly he rates the Barcelona winger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While discussing <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/lamine-yamal-sends-defiant-message-after-spain-slip-up-in-world-cup-opener-everything-will-turn-out-just-as-we-hope\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Yamal\u2019s development and current level<\/a>, the French midfielder said,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLamine is doing very well; he\u2019s young and calm. As he should be, he\u2019s very young. He doesn\u2019t want people to treat him as if he were 30.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former World Cup winner then highlighted what he believes should remain the youngster\u2019s main focus as his fame continues to grow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d advise Lamine to just play football, nothing else.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/spain-v-cabo-verde-group-h-fifa-world-cup-2026-5-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Lamine Yamal, Spain and Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-202643\"  \/>Pogba places Lamine among the top three players. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo surround himself with good people. His family and his manager are important. Let them worry about his image and let him focus solely on football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the best<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The praise becomes even more significant considering Pogba\u2019s own experience at the highest level of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout his career, the Frenchman has dealt with enormous expectations, media scrutiny and worldwide popularity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lastly, perhaps the most striking part of Pogba\u2019s interview came when he was asked where Yamal ranks among the world\u2019s best players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Monaco midfielder left little room for debate, stating, \u201cIf he isn\u2019t the best, he\u2019s among the top three. If he isn\u2019t first, he\u2019s second or third.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lamine Yamal\u2019s rise to football superstardom continues to attract admiration from some of the biggest names in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,938,19321],"class_list":["post-41481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-lamine-yamal","tag-paul-pogba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}