Barcelona’s La Masia diamond reaches yet another milestone

Lamine Yamal has been an absolute revelation in the last few weeks at Barcelona, already turning eyes all around the footballing world with his talent.

The La Masia graduate, who only just turned 16, has stunned all those watching him with his maturity, technical skillset and confidence to step into the limelight.

After seemingly bursting onto the scene out of nowhere, he has clearly made a great impression on Xavi Hernandez, who handed Yamal his first official start for the club in the 2-0 win against Cadiz.

And the occasion did not faze the teenager, as he took to the field brimming with self-assurance, taking on his opponents fearlessly, playing some great passes and opening up spaces for his teammates.

Cadiz are a team that Barcelona have struggled against in recent years due to their stubborn and disciplined deep shape, but Yamal was able to help carve open their defence with his agility and dribbling prowess.

Yamal is now valued at €25 million

In the Cadiz game, Yamal became the youngest player in the 21st century to start a La Liga game aged 16 years and 38 days and became the youngest starter in Barcelona history as well.

The record was previously held by Vicen Martnez Alama in the 1940s who was 16 years and 280 days at the time of his start.

His debut at the tail end of last season had already made him the youngest player to ever feature in a league game in club history too, but the sky seems to be the limit for this stellar talent.

Now, German football database and transfer hub Transfermarkt’s valuation for Yamal is 25 million euros, making him the youngest player to ever reach that figure.

This means he is already valued in the same bracket as some superstars in the sport, including the likes of Sadio Mane, Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema and so on.

Age plays a big factor in Transfermarkt’s valuation of the player, but even so, Yamal’s performances on the pitch in such a short time have already earned adoration from fans, officials and experts alike.

Yamal is now the joint highest-valued U17 player in the world alongside Brazilian starlet Endrick, with Warren Zaire-Emery closest to them 20-million-euro valuation.