The morning after the El Clasico where Barcelona have effectively sealed the LaLiga title and in the El Cordobes ‘snack bar’ in the heart of Rocafonda, the owner Juan Carlos is buzzing with pride.
He speaks proudly about the five-year-old boy who would come with his father in the early hours and dribble with a ball inside this tiny space before getting the train from the city of Mataro to Barcelona.
Juan Carlos would often lend money to Mounir Nasraoui to help him and his son get to training at La Masia, Barcelona’s famed academy.
The boy, who would only want a small glass of orange juice, is still very much a boy at 17. Lamine Yamal is arguably the best player to watch in world football too.
Framed on the wall inside El Cordobes is a signed shirt gifted by Yamal and Juan Carlos shows Mail Sport the masses of fan mail sent to him from places like South Korea for Lamine’s autograph.
Whenever Yamal returns to Rocafonda, mostly to visit his grandmother and family, Juan Carlos will receive a call and he will go up the road to try and fulfil those requests.
Lamine Yamal is arguably the best player to watch in world football already at just 17 years old
A signed shirt adorns the wall of the El Cordobes restaurant from the Spanish wonderkid
‘We are proud and honoured. When he plays, I get goosebumps,’ he says, pointing to his arms. ‘When he scores, the sensation is out of this world,’ Juan Carlos adds.
Less than a minute up the road is the house of Fatima, Yamal’s grandmother and the mother of Mounir, who moved from Morocco to Spain in 1990. Yamal often comes here to see her and because he misses her food.
Fatima, who helped to raise Yamal after his parents separated, refuses to leave Rocafonda. The neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Barcelona, was created in the 1960s to house immigrants.
Over half of the population is born outside of Catalonia. El Pais describes it as ‘forgotten, isolated, and stigmatized’ and according to the Institute of National Statistics, almost 50 per cent of the residents are at risk of poverty but for Yamal, these parts are richer than anyone could imagine.
His Kings League team is called La Capital FC and last week, he was back here to watch the trials. The reason behind the name? Forget Madrid. For Yamal and his friends, this is their capital.
His signature ‘304’ celebration nods to the last three digits of the Rocafonda postcode too. On the street opposite the concrete park where Yamal began to play is Bar Familia LY304, a small restaurant run by his uncle Abdul, who used to own the local bakery.
Inside lies the shirt Yamal wore when he scored the goal of Euro 2024 against France. ‘For my favourite uncle’ it says. Over a traditional Moroccan lunch with lentil soup and fresh fish from the nearby ocean, Abdul beams and shows us pictures of him with Yamal, in the middle of dealing with locals who casually pop in for mint tea – a classic Moroccan staple.
Such is the fandom that a group of Barcelona fans from France arrive too and Abdul kindly advises them via Google Translate that waiting outside the training ground is the best place to try and see Yamal.
On the street opposite the concrete park where Yamal began to play is Bar Familia LY304
Inside is the shirt that he used to score one of the great European Championship goals
By helping to put Real Madrid to the sword Yamal had effectively won LaLiga before making certain against Espanyol
On his WhatsApp, a picture comes through of Yamal exchanging shirts with Thierry Henry before someone sends him a clip of Donald Trump praising Yamal, which turns out to be an AI deepfake. It’s all part of the fun.
Abdul could pack things up but a couple of the locals who speak English insist that like his mother, he is as humble as they come. The locals gather here to watch Barcelona or more precisely Yamal and there’s a small replica World Cup inside too. A couple of years ago that may have seemed fanciful but the way Yamal is going, it is very much a possibility.
Earlier this year, Yamal was asked what he missed the most from his previous life and he responded by saying being able to walk in a park or go to Granollers, where his mum, Sheila Ebana, who originates from Equatorial Guinea, lives. The reality is that the boy who told GQ that one of the ten items he couldn’t live without was his travel card will probably never be seen on public transport again.
From establishing himself as a Barcelona starter to winning Euro 2024 and the Golden Boy award, his stock has exponentially risen. This week, Cole Palmer described him as ‘the best player in the world’ and on Thursday evening, Yamal broke the deadlock with a stunner as Barcelona beat Espanyol to confirm the La Liga title.
The 17-year-old’s performances across the Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan, where Inter boss Simone Inzaghi described him ‘as a child born every 50 years’ have led to him becoming the favourite for the Ballon d’Or.
After Barcelona’s defeat to Inter, Yamal was devastated. Two chances replayed in his mind – one which hit the post in injury time seconds before Inter levelled and one in extra time when Yann Sommer pulled off the save of the competition to deny him.
‘Lamine hates losing football games,’ said a Barcelona source. ‘But it helped that we had another final coming up straight away with Madrid.’
He vowed to fans on Instagram that he would bring the Champions League back to Barcelona, including a quote saved on his camera roll that insisted he would ‘rise up like a warrior’.
The teenager was left devastated by Barca’s dramatic Champions League defeat by Inter Milan
Italian defender Alessandro Bastoni was one of a number of Inter stars to pay tribute to the teenager despite beating his side
As is common in football, an agency helps to manage his social platforms. In Yamal’s case, nothing goes up without his say though – he often comes up with ideas when working with The Underdogs (a consultancy established within Jorge Mendes’s agency, Gestifute) and on this occasion, it was his idea and execution.
Yamal woke up the next morning to numerous kind messages from Inter players. The defender Alessandro Bastoni wrote: ‘Special mention to a terrifyingly good kid – you are a monster!’
Hansi Flick, the Barcelona manager, gave his players the day off after travelling back from Milan but Yamal, alongside a handful of others, turned up to train. By Sunday, they were celebrating their fourth Clasico win of the season with Yamal instrumental again. When he equalised with a curling strike, no one at Montjuic was surprised.
‘He is fearless. He doesn’t believe age should ever limit him because he has always played with older people,’ says a source close to Yamal.
Minutes before the Clasico started, he was doing bottle flips in the dugout. In a nutshell, it summed up the child within but for Flick, Yamal’s status is clear. The ‘genius’ is already a leader.
‘Believe me, he’s not a kid,’ Flick told Mail Sport after the Clasico. ‘It was important after the Inter match that no one forgot what happened but at the same time, they needed to look ahead and that’s exactly how Lamine handled it.
‘He has the self-confidence and belief in what he can do and he’s very clever. He brought us back into the match. At 17 years old, it’s really high quality. This is what we want from him,’ the German added.
Aymeric Laporte, his Spanish team-mate, says that since the Euros, Yamal’s physique has changed. ‘At the start, his body looked young but now he’s a lot stronger because of his work. It’s more like the strength and athleticism of a 22-year-old,’ Laporte tells Mail Sport.
Within days of the heartbreaking defeat Barca had won a fourth Clasico of the season and, effectively, the title with it
Barca boss Hansi Flick was adamant that Yamal is no longer a kid, he has the mentality of one twice his age
Spain team-mate Aymeric Laporte (back row second left) spoke of how Yamal’s body has changed since last summer’s triumph
Though Spanish law limits long-term contracts for minors, a long-term agreement is in place for Yamal to sign until 2030 when he turns 18 in July. His current deal has a £1bn release clause.
Agent Jorge Mendes believes the only thing stopping him from winning the Ballon d’Or is his age, saying that people think he has plenty of time to win. Messi and Ronaldo were both in their early twenties when they first won the prestigious award.
Here in Barcelona, the events of the last year are further vindication of the fact they believe they have the next Messi, even if those words aren’t dared uttered in public.
Back in 2023, when Xavi considered bringing Messi back from PSG, a Barcelona board member warned against it and explained they already had the kid that PSG wanted in Yamal. That summer, weeks after his professional debut at 15, Yamal spent most of his time in Rocafonda and Granollers before going on to break record after record across 2023-24 and making his international debut. Winning Euro 2024 changed his life.
’The joyful thing is that he plays like an inner-city child who wants to compete and win, with a free-spirit and by doing crazy things on a football pitch. He doesn’t feel pressure and maybe in five years it will be different but I really hope not,’ Laporte says.
‘One on one, it’s hard to stop him. Against Inter, you saw that even if you put three players on him, he will find a way. As his team-mates, you feel the impact because the opposition are scared and sit back.
‘If he doesn’t win Ballon d’Or because of the Champions League then he will definitely be in the top three but to even be talking about that at 17 is unbelievable. With the Nations League and World Cup to come, there’s a chance to do more special things for Spain too’ the 30-year-old adds.
Such was the naivety of Yamal that days after winning Euro 2024, he was on an EasyJet flight. It’s hard to see that happening again. Yamal was the second-most searched athlete in the UK last year and is now a global figure with deals with brands like Beats and Oppo.
Yamal is just like any other teenager until he steps on the pitch, when his otherworldly talent shows that he is a star in his own right
That Yamal is even in the discussion to win the Ballon d’Or is mind-boggling at his young age
Barcelona fans already think they’ve got the next Lionel Messi, though they say it quietly
He has received lucrative approaches from betting companies ahead of turning 18 – all of which have been rejected as it goes against his beliefs as a Muslim.
Nike provided him with boots from the age of 14 but last year, he switched to Adidas after they used Lionel Messi in their pitch and told Yamal he would be their symbol for the next generation. He is already a symbol with over 60 million followers on Instagram and TikTok. In typically Gen Z fashion, he doesn’t use X.
During the Sant Jordi (St George’s Day) festival in Barcelona last month, Yamal wanted to go and enjoy the celebrations in the city but he had to seek refuge in a hotel as crowds mobbed him. He will occasionally venture into the streets and shops with his face covered up. That was fine during winter but less so in Barcelona’s sweltering summer.
Earlier this year, as part of his desire to have a private life, he moved out of La Masia and into his own apartment nearby. Usually, La Masia only houses players from outside Catalonia but Barca made an exception when they knew they had a special talent on their hands.
Even now, it is a case of letting him be. Another first-teamer, Pau Cubarsi, who was born six months before Yamal, still lives at La Masia while he completes his studies though he has his own room rather than sharing.
That is not to say Yamal has moved on from his upbringing. He is often seen at Barca Femeni and Barca B games at the Estadi Johan Cruyff – the day before the Clasico, he was there too.
Most of his free time is spent with his cousin Mohamed, who is the son of Abdul and Yamal’s chauffer, as well as boyhood friend, Suhaib with the trio inseparable, often staying with him in his apartment and regularly going live on social media for Yamal’s followers.
Last week, a clip went viral when Yamal told a group of women who initially failed to recognise him that his name was Ryan, when they asked him to take a picture of them. Barcelona subsequently referred to him in a social media post as Ryan.
Among his friends at Barca is Ansu Fati (centre) who played in similar age groups to Yamal
One of his role models on the pitch is Raphinha who vacated the right flank to make way for Yamal
Within the Barcelona setup, his close friends include Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde, Gavi and Hector Fort – all of whom played in similar age groups to Yamal.
On the pitch, Raphinha is one of his role models, with the Brazilian’s shift to playing on the left ultimately a key part in allowing Yamal to make the right-wing spot his own.
The teenager is taking driving lessons and also studying English and cooking.
His off-field interests are like other teens, with gaming and streaming part of his hobbies. Yamal has often said that if he wasn’t a footballer, he would be an influencer and given his love for social media and obsession with having content the way he wants, he regularly stays at shoots for longer than expected. Barcelona try to keep his commitments to a minimum, despite the barrage of interest from rights-holders and sponsors.
For the first time this year, Yamal observed Ramadan and fasted when he could, often travelling back to Rocafonda on an evening to do Iftar with his family.
Mounir, who has a troubled past and was stabbed last August, has his own place in the city courtesy of Lamine but the family who all travelled to the Copa del Rey final last month in Seville, will be at Sunday’s game against Villarreal when Flick’s side will be handed the LaLiga trophy.
In Abdul’s restaurant, his VIP lanyard from that night in Seville hangs proudly behind the counter. At this rate, there will be many more to add too.
As evening begins in Rocafonda, the youth head to the park, dreaming to emulate one of their own. This is street football, with no throw-ins or corners and it helps to understand Yamal’s unique style. The line he delivered in his first press conference last month comes to mind.
The park in Rocafondo helps to understand why Yamal’s game has developed in such a unique way
The graffiti in the park reads: ‘En el barrio de Rocafonda, mas Lamine Yamals y menos Desahucios’ (In the Rocafonda neighbourhood, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions)
In Rocafonda and across Catalonia, they want to be like Lamine Yamal – the boy with the world at his feet.
‘Fear while playing the game? I left all my fears in the park of my neighbourhood, back in Mataro, a while ago,’ he said.
His trademark Trivela pass is the kind of thing seen in video games and not taught at La Masia, where kids are told to play with one or two touches at most. In Barcelona’s Gracia district is a mural of Yamal playing the pass with L2 and X (buttons on Playstation controllers).
Yamal has said he would like to be like Neymar and his current style is more Neymar rather than Messi. The blonde hair is inspired by Neymar too but within Barcelona, the feeling is that Yamal will evolve into a more central player over time and more pragmatic in a Messi-esque role as a false nine.
‘Like Messi, when the game is in a tough place, he demands the ball,’ the Barcelona source says. ‘‘He has that quality that give it to me and I will do my thing,’ he adds.
The graffiti in the park where the kids play reads: ‘En el barrio de Rocafonda, mas Lamine Yamals y menos Desahucios’ (In the Rocafonda neighbourhood, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions).
Before in these parts, everyone wanted to be like Messi. Now, in Rocafonda and across Catalonia, they want to be like Lamine Yamal. The boy with the world at his feet.
