Barcelona star Lamine Yamal could reportedly have been prized away by another of European football’s heavyweights when he was aged 14, only for the agent Jorge Mendes to intervene and block the move.
Despite only turning 18 in the summer, Yamal has already made over 100 appearances in Barcelona’s first team, scoring 27 times.
Yamal has earned two LaLiga titles with the Catalan giants and was a key part of Spain’s European Championship winning side in 2024.
His individual accolades have included winning the Golden Boy award and Kopa Trophy, with the honours recognising the football’s best young talents.
Barcelona bestowed their iconic No 10 shirt on Yamal this summer, with Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo among the stars to have worn it in the past.
The shirt reflected Barcelona’s view of Yamal being their poster boy moving forwards, but the Spanish giants reportedly came close to losing the young star when he was just 14.
Lamine Yamal is already Barcelona’s poster child but a report claimed he nearly left aged 14
Ex-Bayern Munich director Hasan Salihamidzic, left, reportedly pushed for Yamal to join the club but Jorge Mendes taking over as the teenager’s agent saw a potential deal break down
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According to German newspaper Bild, Bayern Munich made a serious attempt to sign the winger after their scouting department had shown their hierarchy clips of the teenager.
Bayern Munich’s then sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and technical director Marco Neppe reportedly expressed their interest to Yamal’s agent Ivan de la Pena.
The interest said to have been raised during a meeting called to initially discuss a possible move for Gavi, another rising Barcelona star.
De la Pena reportedly informed the Bayern officials he would inform Yamal’s family of their interest and desire to meet to discuss a joining, which would only have been able to go through when he turned 16 in July 2023.
The potential deal, however, broke down after Yamal switched representation with Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes having signed him as a client.
When contacted by Bayern representatives, Mendes reportedly claimed a fee of around €5million (£4.3m) may be enough to convince Yamal’s family to bring him to Bavaria.
Bayern chiefs reportedly delayed making a decision to paying the substantial transfer fee for the 14-year-old.
Yamal would ultimately make his senior debut for Barcelona aged 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days, when he came on to replace Gavi – Bayern’s initial target – in the final stages of a LaLiga match in April 2023.
Yamal would ultimately make his Barcelona debut at the age of 15 back in April 2023
The winger helped Spain to win the European Championships in the summer of 2024
Yamal received Barcelona’s iconic No 10 shirt this summer after he turned 18
Barcelona extended Yamal’s contract until 2026 later that year, as the winger began to become a regular in their first team.
The club were only able to give him a deal until 2026 due to players under the age of 18 only being permitted to sign for a maximum of three years.
In May, Yamal signed a new six-year contact to extend his stay until 2031 with the deal including a significant pay rise.
The deal came into effect on Yamal’s 18th birthday in July.
