Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal needs no introduction. With his performances over the last 12 months, he has made the entering football world sit up and take notice and is rightfully touted to be the next big thing.
Vindication for the same came in the form of becoming the youngest player ever to be nominated for the upcoming Ballon d’Or award and also the Kopa trophy. Yamal has also started the current season very well with one goal and four assists from four La Liga games.
The 17-year-old is currently on international duty with Spain where he provided a beautiful assist to Joselu in his nation’s game against Switzerland. At such a young age, the consistency with which Yamal plays is frightening.
As per Mundo Deportivo, Yamal already ranks among the world’s elite when it comes to stats in terms of assists and dribbles. He has 17 assists since the start of 2024 which is only one less than Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne and ex-Chelsea star Oscar.
The two are natural playmakers in their own right and it’s incredible that Yamal is putting up similar numbers to him. The teenager is also the most successful dribbler in La Liga ranking ahead of the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.
Talking about Vinicius, it is worth mentioning here that Yamal has more goal contributions for Spain (11) in 16 games than the Brazilian (10) in 34 games for his country. He hasn’t even played half the number of games as his Real Madrid counterpart.
Both numbers and common sense tell you that Yamal is destined to become a great player in the history of football. However, it’s time to start having the discussion of whether he is already one of the best right-wingers in the world.
One cannot think of many more players in his position who are delivering end-product with as much consistency as Yamal in European football. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out and where he goes from here.
