Barcelona were reluctant to start Lamine Yamal when he was younger for fear that other clubs could poach him before he could sign a contract.
Yamal only turned 17 in July, but has already established himself as one of the best players in the world.
A sensational first season at Barça the first team gave seven goals and nine assists in 50 games, while he already has four goals and four assists in six games this season. In between that good club form was a successful summer with Spain, leading his country to Euro 2024 glory.
Former Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff, who left the club in 2023, has now revealed that he and the former coach Xavi they were eager to play Yamal even earlier than planned. But because he was not under a professional contract, they were concerned that he would be offered a more lucrative deal elsewhere if his talent was shown to the world, while AS complains that the club has “hid” him.
“The first time he went to train (with the first team), after five minutes the coach, who was Xavi, looked at us and said ‘this is special’,” Cruyff said. Movistar Plus.
“I wanted to debut earlier but we didn’t have a contract with the lad so first we had to make sure he would be ours for many years.
“Even the veterans saw that it was something different, very hard to find.”
Cruyff spoke after Yamal scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League in Thursday’s 2-1 loss against AS Monaco.
