FC Barcelona will look to tie Lamine Yamal up for at least seven years.
Getty ImagesFC Barcelona have an informal agreement with teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal and his agent Jorge Mendes to commit to the club for at least the next seven years according to Mundo Deportivo.
The 16-year-old has become one of the hottest prospects in world football after making his first team debut still aged 15.
Before the weekend, he also represented Spain’s senior national team against Georgia breaking the records for youngest appearance maker and goalscorer both previously set by Barca teammate Gavi by featuring and scoring in a 7-1 Euro 2024 qualifiers rout.
When the Andalusian emerged on the scene from La Masia, becoming the winner of the prestigious Golden Boy award, the Catalans did all they could to successfully tie him down until 2026 through fresh terms that also come with a €1 billion ($1.069 billion) release clause tied to them.
Barca have similar plans for Lamine Yamal, except his situation differs to Gavi’s in that the midfielder was already 18 when he put pen to paper.
In Yamal’s case, he can only extend for another three years as is because of his age. But according to Mundo Deportivo, Barca have a gentleman’s agreement with the player’s camp, led by super agent Jorge Mendes, to then extend for another five seasons until 2030 in 2025.
This would tie Lamine Yamal up to the eve of his 23rd birthday at least, and Barca will hope that fears from AS correspondent Javi Miguel don’t come to fruition.
Thanks to his father’s status as a flag-waving Real Madrid fan, there are concerns that the player could be pushed towards Los Blancos and break Barca hearts in 2030 like Luis Figo did at the turn of the century by making a switch between the bitter rivals.
On the international stage, Spain are already making steps to ensure that they don’t lose Lamine Yamal to his father’s homeland Morocco.
The winger might star for La Roja again when they host Cyrpus Tuesday night, and Lamine Yamal would then just be a single competitive fixture cap off completing the required three under FIFA rules that means one then can’t go on to play for another country.