Former Barcelona youth co-ordinator reveals how club signed Lamine Yamal – ‘Small details matter’ | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal has impressed everyone with his majestic performances for Barcelona and the Spanish national team in the past 12 months or so.

From being one of La Masia‘s treasured youth players, Yamal has become one of the best wingers on the planet, with comparisons with Lionel Messi increasing with each passing day.

In the wake of Yamal’s success this season, former FC Barcelona youth coordinator Albert Puig has unveiled the fascinating story behind Lamine Yamal’s arrival at La Masia in the first place.

The gem of La Torreta

Lamine Yamal started his youth career at La Torreta and his exceptional talent was evident from an early age, which drew interest from Espanyol.

However, La Torreta president Rafa Rodriguez, Juan Gascon, and scout Isidre Gil played crucial roles in guiding him towards Barcelona. This was revealed by Albert Puig.

“Isidre Gil, a true legend, went to the courtyard of La Torreta and asked if there were any good players. Gascon replied: ‘Look, there’s a dark-skinned lad who is very good.’

The next day they played a match and won 6-0. Isidre saw him and said: ‘This lad has to play for Barça,'” Puig recalled, in an interview with Jijantes (h/t SPORT).

Barça’s interest quickly intensified following that. Another scout, Oscar, attempted to watch him play, but Lamine was visiting his father’s native. Still, Oscar sent a report urging the club to act fast as Espanyol were also interested at the time.

Yamal, at a young age, was also courted by Espanyol. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

Later, Lamine eventually went on trial with Barcelona. Puig, though, revealed that the youngster had forgotten his boots the first time he came to training.

“Gascon told him a thousand times not to forget anything, but of course, he was a six-year-old boy. He forgot his boots and we lent him some,” Puig revealed.

Talking about Yamal’s performance, Puig added, “Despite being one or two years younger than others, he stood out incredibly. And as I was there, you can already imagine who made the decision.”

Puig revealed further that a decisive meeting followed between Lamine’s parents and La Torreta’s board.

“They told them: ‘You have an offer from Espanyol and an offer from Barça, what do you want to do?’ The parents thought about it calmly.

“Finally, the scout suggested asking the boy directly. And Lamine said he wanted to go to Barça, mainly because of how well they treated him,” he said.

Concluding his story, Puig added that Barcelona’s immense support to Yamal might have played a key role in convincing the youngster to sign for the Blaugrana.

“At Barça, they provided him with all the training clothes. These are things that may seem insignificant, but small details matter. They told us: ‘Nobody has ever treated us like you.’ It’s not that Espanyol doesn’t treat people well, but we did better,” Puig concluded.