Gary Lineker never thought we’d see another player like Lionel Messi – until Lamine Yamal came along. “Just watching him, he makes it look so easy to beat a player. He goes past them almost as if they’re invisible, like they’re not there,” the ex-England international enthused on the ‘Stick to Football’ podcast the morning after Barcelona’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Inter on April 30.
For all his understandable excitement, though, Lineker felt compelled to add a word of warning, pointing out that Yamal had already played more than 100 games for Barcelona before the age of 18 – which, in his eyes, was as concerning as it was impressive. “It worries me slightly that they might burn him out,” Lineker admitted.
Regrettably, Yamal’s workload has become an even bigger talking point over the past six months, culminating in a very public row breaking out between Barca boss Hansi Flick and his Spain counterpart Luis de la Fuente over the forward’s latest injury issue…