Valverde had the megastar Lionel Messi as the talisman of his Barcelona team in the past and now Hansi Flick's Blaugrana look up to teenage superstar Lamine Yamal to deliver the goods. As such, comparisons between the two have been doing the rounds for a while now, and Valverde gave his two cents on the same. "Time will tell. The bar is set incredibly high. Messi has arguably been the best player in the world, with incredible ambition every single day," warned Valverde.
"He's an incredible player, I'm proud of him as he progresses and develops. Barcelona and Spain have something special in him, and we must all help him learn to handle the pressure," said Rakitic.
"For me, Lamine is a great player and will be a player who will mark an era at Barça, I think, but well, in the end he spoke in a certain way, he heated up the game a bit and obviously the press jumped on him," Courtois noted. "Carva or Huijsen are in the national team and I think there's zero problem with Lamine. It's something that stays on the field and there's nothing going on off it," he further added.
Julien Lauren believes the Lamine Yamal situation could be "easily figured out" if both Barcelona and the Spanish FA "speak to each other" to sort it out. (1:49) Nov 17, 2025, 03:39 AM ET Barcelona are looking for reinforcements at left back, right back and on the wing, while AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic is waiting to see how the club fare this season before signing a new contract.
"I like the Barça coach, I think he's a decent person, but I heard what Luis said and I think it was blown out of proportion. De la Fuente certainly didn't mean to offend him."
Earlier today, FIFA announced the list of nominees for the Puskás Award and the Marta Award, which recognise the best goals of the season in men's and women's football, respectively. And, the governing body has included Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal's extraordinary goal against Espanyol in the last Catalan derby at Cornellà-El Prat among the 11 best of the past season.
Following the match against Celta Vigo, Barcelona's medical department contacted the Federation's doctors on Sunday night, informing them that an external medical specialist would be visiting Yamal the following day to evaluate his condition more thoroughly. At that stage, the club was unaware that Dr. Schilders, a Belgian specialist, would recommend a radiofrequency treatment that would require a few days of rest.
Lamine Yamal is one of the best players in the world right now; we need to limit his threat defensively and as a unit, but Barcelona doesn't rely on him alone - they've got Ferran, Lewandowski, Fermín, and Olmo, and their attack is phenomenal," he said.
As such, he has played nine consecutive matches, completing the full 90 minutes in eight of them, and did not take part in group training on Friday. The accumulation of minutes is beginning to take its toll, and Flick may decide it's finally time to give the 25-year-old a breather. Another factor behind Kounde's recent dip in sharpness is Lamine Yamal's fitness issues.