Lamine Yamal is lighting up La Liga. He has produced exceptional performances for The Blaugrana and The Spanish National Team. He has 13 goal contributions in 40 games, truly amazing numbers for a teenager. He has been a revelation in that right-wing position. He is the most exciting attacking player to come out of the legendary La Masia academy since the great Lionel Messi himself. However, he shouldn’t play a minute more this season.
Barcelona has had a rather rough history of handling young, talented players in recent years. Ansu Fati was touted to become one of the best players in the world, now he finds himself warming the bench at Brighton. Riqui Puig was one of the hottest commodities in Europe. He practices his trade for the LA Galaxy in the MLS. Barcelona has had a sticky situation with their finances after former president Josep Maria Bartomeu left the club in a shambles. They were forced to sell their greatest-ever player to PSG and the club was unable to make any big signings. Former Barca legend Xavi stepped in as manager in a very tumultuous time for the Spanish heavyweights. He wasn’t allowed to spend big on marquee signings and players with big contracts such as Antoine Griezmann had to be sold. All these drastic shifts in the working of the club led to Xavi turning to the academy for reinforcements.
Take the case of Pedri. He was snapped up by The Claret and Blue after a series of brilliant performances for Las Palmas in the Spanish Second Division. Pedri was instantly brilliant, his amazing technical prowess and game IQ propelled him to a starting spot for Barcelona as well as Spain. He had all the makings of a future legend. This was what Barcelona fans were waiting for. This was the heir to Andres Iniesta. Pedri was brilliant in the 2020-2021 season and he looked to be destined for great things. Pedri played in 71 games that season for club and country, flying to the Olympics right after the Euros were over. He was sapped. A player who had never been injured before his career has since been injured 9 times in 3 years. The promising young player now cuts a frustrated figure as he spends most of his time in the infirmary rather than the field.
Barcelona’s overreliance on its youngsters has led to the ruin of many promising young stars. Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Pedri and now even young Gavi sustained an ACL injury. Over the years, The Catalonians have been lauded for their role in developing young talent. However, in the past, the exuberance of youth was tempered by the experience of seasoned veterans. Barcelona’s injury struggles have allowed Real Madrid to get into pole position to win the La Liga title this year. Even Girona, a historically small club have given the 5-time European Champions a run for their money. If things are to change over the long term, Barcelona must stop overplaying their youngsters. Lamine Yamal is an incredible young player. He is destined for a great career and enormous success. Barcelona must protect their young star at any cost, even if it means not playing him as much as they can this season. Lamine Yamal’s talent can set world football ablaze, but Barcelona must preserve that fire, lest it burns too bright and fizzles out prematurely.
