Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has, late on Saturday, moved to lavish praise on headline-grabber Lamine Yamal.
For those not aware, history was made at the Camp Nou earlier this evening.
This came as Barca played host to Real Betis, amid ongoing effort to seal the La Liga title.
En route to an eventual 4-0 triumph, secured by way of goals from all of Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Guido Rodriguez (OG), the aforementioned Yamal was introduced off the bench.
And, in the process, the attacker became the youngest player to ever take to the pitch for Barcelona’s first-team, at just 15 years, 9 months and 16 days years old.
Lamine Yamal becomes the youngest player to EVER debut with Barcelona first team. 🔵🔴 #FCB
Born on July 13, 2007 ✨ pic.twitter.com/2OxJNKl5M6
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 29, 2023
Not only that, but Yamal went on to make his presence very much known, too, coming close to both scoring, and bagging a fine assist.
And the Spanish headmaster, after lavishing deserved praise on the latest prodigious talent at his disposal, hinted that Yamal is in line for a more prominent role in his squad in the near future:
“I told him to go out and try things, and he did”, Xavi began, as cited by Marca.
“He is special. He could have scored, and made an assist. He is very self confident, he has shown what he can do. He has no fear and he is very talented.
“He plays beyond his 15 years and he is ready to play in the first team.”
Xavi is confident ‘fearless’ Lamine Yamal is ready for Barcelona first team role https://t.co/AeGPy1SlHE
— Football España (@footballespana_) April 29, 2023
