Lamine Yamal is a teenage soccer player. He is already playing at the professional level and has reached many milestones. He has quickly become one of the most sought-after players in the world. He was born in 2007 and he is already being paid millions to play for professional club FC Barcelona. Yamal already holds 17 records, the most important being youngest player to start a La Liga game, youngest player to start a Champions League game, youngest La Liga goal scorer, youngest goal scorer in the European Championships, and youngest player to win a major trophy for his nation.
According to FCBarcelona.com, “He is just seventeen, and the way he plays is way beyond compare. Against Rayo Vallecano on Monday, Lamine Yamal made his 100th senior appearance, 83 for Barça and the other 17 for his country.” Along with those appearances, he already has 36 goal contributions for Barcelona and 11 for Spain.
Yamal plays a few different positions. According to soccer.com, “He rotates between playing as a center forward, attacking midfielder, and winger, but he predominantly plays as a right winger.” This shows the diversity Yamal has; he can play multiple positions. If players get hurt he can fill into their position, which is another aspect of his game that makes him valuable.
When asked, Yamal stated his inspiration was Neymar. During an interview with intermiami.news, Yamal stated, “I was five-years-old when I saw him at Santos, but seven-years-old when I saw him in person at FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou. It was incredible to see him. Yes, it’s true that Messi was there, who was also incredible, but he was something totally different. Neymar has always been my idol. He’s a star, a football legend.” Many people 
were surprised by this remark. Many thought Messi or maybe a Spanish player would be Yamal’s idol.
There is no doubt that Yamal is a great player. Great players get paid a lot. According to Time, Yamal is earning a salary of €1,670,000 ($1,820,000) for the 2024-2025 Season at Barcelona. For a teenager that is a lot of money. This contract will also only remain for one season; next season he could be paid more. To transfer clubs, the team who is buying the player needs to pay something called the buyout clause. If a player wants to leave the club before their contract ends, this is triggered. According to Time, “In October 2023, Yamal signed a deal with Barcelona’s soccer club with a buyout clause set at €1 billion ($1.1 billion). This means that any other soccer team that wants to recruit Yamal as a player would have to pay €1 billion to
Barcelona.”
Along with the buyout clause, each player has a transfer value; that is how much they cost to move teams. Beinsports.com wrote, “The young talent is now the most valuable player in FC Barcelona’s squad, with a valuation of $187.2 million, surpassing the $166.4 million valuation of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé.” Also, “In LaLiga, only Vinicius Jr. surpasses Lamine Yamal in market value, with a valuation of $208 million. Yamal shares the second spot with Jude Bellingham, both valued at $187.2 million.”
MMS students and soccer fan Ryan Goomber said, “Lamine Yamal is what I believe to be a rising star, and may become one of the best players in the world in the future. Lamine Yamal started his career off strong with the team FC Barcelona, one of the best teams in the world right now.” Goomber also stated, “Another notable thing about Lamine Yamal is that he won the Euro Cup, which consists of all teams from Europe. Lamine Yamal won this at just 16 years old. It was actually rumored that he had to do homework during this big tournament.”
A survey given to a group of MMS students showed that only 20% of students knew who Yamal was. Most of those students only knew the name; they didn’t know what he did. In contrast, many students in Europe really look up to Yamal, especially Spanish children, and he has reached fame and icon status there.
In conclusion, Lamine Yamal is a great upcoming talent, who has the potential to become an amazing player. He is already worth millions of dollars and is currently the most important player to the FC Barcelona squad. He has excelled in the national team and has impressed many with his records and trophies. In the future he may be compared to greats of the game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar.
