Fate or coincidence? Lamine Yamal explains Lionel Messi photo

Lamine Yamal’s (17) emergence as one of the most exciting players in European football was cemented over the summer when he helped lead Spain to glory in the Euros. There was already talk that the teenager had the potential to be a special player, but for Yamal, the future was now. 

At Barcelona, they didn’t need convincing. They had already grown accustomed to the talent that the young winger had demonstrated week in and week out in La Liga. And it was already a hard task to silence the belief that the club had found their heir to Lionel Messi (37). It became far harder when a picture of Yamal and Messi emerged over the Euros. 

It was a photo taken at a charity event that Barcelona had hosted in 2008 when Yamal was around one year old. In the picture, Messi accompanied by Yamal’s mother can be seen bathing the baby. It felt almost mythological like Messi was anointing his successor, of course, to Yamal there was only one answer to whether it was fate or coincidence. 

Speaking to France Football, the winger explained, “Honestly, I don’t remember the photo with Messi, I was very young. My mother told me about it when I was 7 or 8 years old. It’s incredible to think that the best player in the world made me take a bath, but I think it’s just a coincidence.” He further joked, “With a little of his magic, I could become an incredible football player, right? But it’s a coincidence, nothing more.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland