Golden Boy award founder: PSG could plot world-record €250m move for Barcelona prodigy to replace Mbappe | OneFootball

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year. From being a relatively unknown quantity, the 16-year-old has become a household name following a sensational breakthrough campaign for club and country.

Indeed, the La Masia graduate has already established himself as a mainstay for Barcelona and is in the process of doing so with the Spanish national team as well.

Making his European Championship debut with La Roja last weekend, the teenage sensation put in a fine display while breaking a few records along the way.

Yamal, at this point, is one of the frontrunners to win the Golden Boy 2024 Award and the founder of the prestigious honour, Massimo Franchi, has made a huge prediction regarding the Barcelona prodigy’s future.

Franchi claims PSG could come knocking for Yamal

Yamal signed a new contract with Barcelona last year which includes a mammoth €1 billion release clause, so as to ensure that clubs do not poach him away.

However, Massimo Franchi, in an interview with Philipp Kessler, as revealed to Barça Universal, has sensationally claimed that PSG could plot a swoop for Yamal to replace Kylian Mbappe.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if one day – perhaps on August 31 – the newspapers announce that he will become Kylian Mbappé’s replacement at Paris Saint-Germain,” Franchi sensationally claimed.

The next big thing in football. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“Possibly even at a price that exceeds the previous record transfer fee of €222 million that PSG paid for Neymar. Maybe the French club will get Yamal for 250 million euros. That’s something that’s in my head.”

When asked if he really believes PSG could break the bank on a player who is just 16 years old, Franchi replied in the affirmative, saying:

“When I think of a future superstar, I can only think of Lamine Yamal. His release clause at FC Barcelona is €1 billion. But Barca has financial problems.

“I recently asked Nasser Al-Khelaifi who he would like to sign next. He said that the only top star next season will be coach Luis Enrique. But I don’t believe him in this case. PSG have too much money.”

“The temptation is too great to use it. And, in the end, I think temptation will win. As in a famous Oscar Wilde saying: ‘I can resist anything except temptation'”, he added.

It must be noted that there had been rumours of PSG making a €200 million bid for Yamal to replace Mbappe, who is headed to Real Madrid, but they died down soon enough.

The 16-year-old, for his part, claimed in an interview as recently as last night that he wishes to stay at Barcelona for a long time and become a club legend.

Praise for Yamal

The contender for 2024 Golden Boy. (Photo by Rafa Babot/Getty Images)

During the interview, Franchi also reserved some praise for Yamal, calling him a ‘no-limit player’.

“His record debut at Euro 2024 against Croatia (at just 16 years and 338 days) fully confirms all the expectations that are placed on him. Simply a “no limit” player,” said the founder of the Golden Boy Award.

“Just one match, 90 minutes at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, were enough for him to definitively become Spain’s new star,” he added.

When asked if there were any weak points in his game, Franchi added that Yamal does not score a lot of goals at this point, but insisted that the Barcelona prodigy is still just 16 years old.

“At the moment he doesn’t score so many goals, better he scores a few goals, in proportion to his enormous class and his endless repertoire of skills. But he is only 16 years old, please! You have to consider this very important aspect,” he remarked.

“Because if in the actual, modern, super fast and super intense football, he scored also many goals, hey, he would already be, no doubt, the new Pelé!”