What Lamine Yamal has achieved at the age of 17 is “not normal”, says Andres Iniesta, with the Barcelona starlet urged to keep a “playground” mindset.
- Made senior breakthrough at 15
- Has rewritten the history books
- Needs to keep feet on the ground
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Yamal is far from being the finished article, despite all that he has achieved, and has been advised to work on his somewhat petulant response to being substituted and keeping his feet on the ground. Iniesta has echoed those sentiments, with it important for the youngster to avoid becoming caught up in his own hype.
WHAT INIESTA SAID
World Cup winner and Barcelona legend Iniesta has told Mundo Deportivo of watching Yamal’s meteoric rise to prominence: “It’s not normal as we think of normality. What he’s doing so far is not normal. The challenge is that the environment and what accompanies him guide him to that evolution. He’s 17 years old, he has his whole career ahead of him and what he must do is continue enjoying that joy and the freedom of playing in the school playground.
“Therefore, everything around him must accompany him so that his growth continues every year. Every year he will have to improve himself and that is the demand that he will have at Barca and in the national team and that at the same time is not easy.”