Meet Lamine Yamal, the rising football talent dubbed ‘mini Messi’: the Adidas-sponsored player was the youngest ever to score in the Euros, and has a US$1 billion buyout clause with Barcelona

So just who is the young footballer who may yet turn out to be the greatest the world has ever seen?

How old is Lamine Yamal?

Lamine Yamal was born on July 13, 2007, meaning he celebrated his 17th birthday the day before the Euro 2024 final.

What is Lamine Yamal’s background?

Yamal was reportedly born in Catalonia to migrant parents Mounir Nasraoui, who is Moroccan, and Sheila Ebana, who hails from Guinea Equatorial. His full name is Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana.

While his parents separated when he was just three, Time magazine reports, they’ve continued to co-parent and support him through his rise ever since. His dad is particularly active on social media, proudly posing with his son on Instagram.

Who does Lamine Yamal play for?

Yamal joined FC Barcelona’s youth league at the age of just seven from his local club, and “raced through the age categories quicker than any other player of his generation”, according to the club’s profile on him. In April 2023, when he was age 15, he made his debut for the first team and became the youngest player ever to represent FC Barcelona.

Barcelona has been home to some of football’s greatest ever players – from Messi and Ronaldinho Gaúcho to Diego Maradona – and the fact isn’t lost on Yamal. When he joined the first team last April, he said the first thing he noticed was how different the pitch looked from when you’re watching in the stands. “And then every step I took there was a dream, it was something very beautiful,” he told GQ Spain last month, in Spanish, adding that he didn’t sleep a wink that night.

What is Lamine Yamal’s net worth?

Forbes estimates Yamal’s value as a player at US$157 million and, according to Time magazine, the youngster is currently earning a US$1.8 million salary for the 2024-25 season at Barcelona.

Even more incredible is his buyout clause, which is worth US$1.1 billion – meaning that if another team wants to recruit the 17-year-old, they’d have to fork out an enormous fee. The numbers also don’t take into account the 10-year deal he already has with Adidas, which is reported to be worth around US$34 million.

Lionel Messi is Lamine Yamal’s idol – and “blessed” him as a baby

Yamal has made no secret of the fact that Messi is his all-time favourite player, but says he doesn’t like being compared to the star. “That’s something me and my family have tried to avoid, because it’s impossible to match what he has done for football. It’s too much,” he said in an interview, per The Athletic.

As the Euros unfolded, football fans delighted in a photo doing the rounds on social media that was taken back in 2007. It shows a then 20-year-old Messi bathing a baby Yamal. Incredibly, Yamal’s parents had won a Unicef raffle, and the photo was taken for a charity calendar.

His dreams are coming true, one after another

Yamal’s next wish is about to come true too. “It would be a dream to play against [Messi] one day,” The New York Times reported him as saying last week. “I hope Argentina win the Copa America and we win the Euros, so I can play against him in the Finalissima in the future.”

Well, the results are in – and in true Yamal style, it seems his wish has been granted.