Lamine Yamal ‘touched by the wand of God’, says Spain boss

Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal has impressed Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente so comprehensively that the boss of La Roja says the 17-year-old has been “touched by the wand of God” – yet he still has a warning for the superstar.

Lamine has exploded over the course of the last year to become one of the biggest stars in the world game, regardless of age.

At 17, he played a leading role to help Spain win Euro 2024 while Barcelona also claim to have knocked back an offer worth a world-record €250 million from PSG to buy the Catalan player.

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Already this season, he has five goals and five assists for Barca across all competitions and Spain boss De la Fuente has recognised just how talented the teen is.

“When you see his touch… I’d say that he’s been touched by the wand of God, that he’s different,” he told Mundo Deportivo.

De la Fuente did have a warning to Lamine Yamal, though.

“There are players who at 17 years old are nothing like boys of their age. They’re more mature, take on more responsibility, who can understand and accept anything you tell them and navigate any situation you give them because they’re great,” he added.

“But I’ve also seen some of these footballers fall by the wayside. Don’t make the mistake of wanting faster than you have to. You can get ruined.

“You have to control whether you play football very well and the thousand other details that are truly important.”

Gavi injury blame

De la Fuente also discussed the case of Lamine Yamal’s Barcelona teammate Gavi, with fingers pointed at him for overexerting him on the international stage for the long-term injury that has kept the promising midfielder out for nearly a year.

“It bothered me that people took advantage of a situation that has been shown to be an accident,” he said. “The same thing’s happened with Rodri, Dani Carvajal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

“There’s no need to look for those responsible, this is football.”

Gavi is said to be making good progress towards a return, with one observer describing him as being “like a bull” in training.