Lamine Yamal: 'Mini Leo Messi' is training with Barcelona - his highlights are special | OneFootball

Barcelona’s youth academy, known as La Masia, has produced countless world-class players in the past.

Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are just a few of the legendary names that have come through Barcelona’s academy.

While Gavi and Ansu Fati are two of the names that have graduated from La Masia and are now starring for Barca’s first-team.

The next player that could make the step-up from La Masia to Barca’s first-team is Lamine Yamal.

The youngster, who operates as a winger, is very highly-rated by the Catalan giants.

At just 15 years old, Yamal currently plays for Barca’s Juvenil A team, their U19 side.

Yamal, who is of Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean descent but has played four times for Spain’s U16s, scoring once, has been compared with Lionel Messi at La Masia, per Marca.

He was even dubbed “a mini Leo Messi” by LaLiga’s official Twitter account after they posted a video of his performances at LaLiga Promises in 2019.

Despite being so young, he was one of 10 youngsters who were called up to train with Barcelona’s first team earlier this week.

A highlights video, compiled by Twitter user @Nyctophile1_, shows what a special talent he is. View it below…

It’s crazy to think he’s just 15 years old. Yamal really does look like a star in the making.

He has stunning ball control, is fast, possesses a devilish left-foot and has a plethora of tricks at his disposal. He makes the game look easy and must be a nightmare for defenders to play against.

Xavi is said to be a big fan of Yamal. Per Mundo Deportivo, he has ‘fallen in love’ with Yamal’s talent and considers him the greatest prospect at La Masia currently.

It’s easy to see why Xavi rated him so highly. Surely it won’t be long until we see the youngster make his debut for Barca’s first team.

QUIZ: At what club did these 40 players make their professional debut?

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Lionel Messi made his professional football debut for which club?