Meet Lamine Yamal, the rising football talent dubbed ‘mini Messi’: the Adidas-sponsored player was the youngest ever to score in the Euros, and has a US$1 billion buyout clause with Barcelona

Lamine Yamal (left) celebrates with his Spanish teammates after winning the Uefa 2024 European Championships in Germany. Photo: @sefutbol/Instagram

• The sky seems to be the limit for Lamine Yamal, who celebrated his 17th birthday a day before competing for his country in the 2024 Uefa European Championship final on Sunday - and winning
• His age has already seen him break multiple records in Spain, his contract with Barcelona has a US$1 billion buyout clause, and he's making millions from Adidas - just like his idol, Lionel Messi

Pundits and football fans alike shook their heads in wonder as Lamine Yamal stood alongside his teammates on the winner's podium on Sunday night's Euro 2024 final in Berlin. Not only is he now the youngest ever Euro or World Cup finalist, but it was announced afterwards that Uefa had crowned him Young Player of the Tournament.

And those records and accolades are just the latest in a string of achievements by the youngster since he burst onto the scene aged 15. Even former Barcelona coach Xavi HernAndez - who played alongside Lionel Messi for years - said he'd never in his life "seen a player of this quality", according to the BBC.

So just who is the young footballer who may yet turn out to be the greatest the world has ever seen?

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

How old is Lamine Yamal?

Lamine Yamal was born on July 13, 2007, meaning he celebrated his 17th birthday the day before the Euro 2024 final.

What is Lamine Yamal's background?

Yamal was reportedly born in Catalonia to migrant parents Mounir Nasraoui, who is Moroccan, and Sheila Ebana, who hails from Guinea Equatorial. His full name is Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana.

While his parents separated when he was just three, Time magazine reports, they've continued to co-parent and support him through his rise ever since. His dad is particularly active on social media, proudly posing with his son on Instagram.

Who does Lamine Yamal play for?

Yamal joined FC Barcelona's youth league at the age of just seven from his local club, and "raced through the age categories quicker than any other player of his generation", according to the club's profile on him. In April 2023, when he was age 15, he made his debut for the first team and became the youngest player ever to represent FC Barcelona.

Barcelona has been home to some of football's greatest ever players - from Messi and Ronaldinho GaUcho to Diego Maradona - and the fact isn't lost on Yamal. When he joined the first team last April, he said the first thing he noticed was how different the pitch looked from when you're watching in the stands. "And then every step I took there was a dream, it was something very beautiful," he told GQ Spain last month, in Spanish, adding that he didn't sleep a wink that night.

What is Lamine Yamal's net worth?

Forbes estimates Yamal's value as a player at US$157 million and, according to Time magazine, the youngster is currently earning a US$1.8 million salary for the 2024-25 season at Barcelona.

Even more incredible is his buyout clause, which is worth US$1.1 billion - meaning that if another team wants to recruit the 17-year-old, they'd have to fork out an enormous fee. The numbers also don't take into account the 10-year deal he already has with Adidas, which is reported to be worth around US$34 million.

Lionel Messi is Lamine Yamal's idol - and "blessed" him as a baby

Yamal has made no secret of the fact that Messi is his all-time favourite player, but says he doesn't like being compared to the star. "That's something me and my family have tried to avoid, because it's impossible to match what he has done for football. It's too much," he said in an interview, per The Athletic.

As the Euros unfolded, football fans delighted in a photo doing the rounds on social media that was taken back in 2007. It shows a then 20-year-old Messi bathing a baby Yamal. Incredibly, Yamal's parents had won a Unicef raffle, and the photo was taken for a charity calendar.

His dreams are coming true, one after another

Yamal told GQ Spain that one of the most mind-blowing things for him was seeing children from the working class area he grew up in trading football cards with his face on, or wearing his shirt. "It seems incredible to me", he told the interviewer in Spanish, "because when I was little, I looked up to Messi or Neymar, and seeing children now look at me that way is amazing."

Yamal's next wish is about to come true too. "It would be a dream to play against [Messi] one day," The New York Times reported him as saying last week. "I hope Argentina win the Copa America and we win the Euros, so I can play against him in the Finalissima in the future."

Well, the results are in - and in true Yamal style, it seems his wish has been granted.

More Articles from SCMP

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific launches inquiry after video shows staff member throwing luggage

Trump 2.0 certain to be more hawkish on China, analysts warn, as shooting sparks sympathy

Reptile rage as Thai mother allows daughter, 4, to play in pool with 200 baby crocodiles

One lesson Asia’s emerging manufacturing powerhouses can learn from China

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.