Super-agent Jorge Mendes has laid out exactly what Lamine Yamal needs to do to fulfill his immense potential and become an all-time great.
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Yamal has the talent to become a legendMendes warns of importance of focusRonaldo and Messi examples givenFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Mendes, who represents Yamal, cited the hard work and professional attitude that underpins the natural abilities of both Ronaldo and Messi as the crucial example for the Barcelona teenager to follow. Focusing on football above all else is the most important thing.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Countless talented players end up falling through the cracks because their focus and personal drive does not match up to their football ability. Ronaldo and Messi have both worked every step of the way to achieve what they each have done, with incredible longevity also a reward for ther respective dedication to the game. 2024 Golden Boy Yamal has the world at his feet but is only just getting started.
WHAT JORGE MENDES SAID
"I think Cristiano is a good example for Lamine and all the youngsters for everything he has achieved, a level that almost no one has achieved," Mendes told . "Today he has almost 1,100 goals, he has achieved something that no one has achieved, the goal is the main objective of any team. Lamine has a good example, not only on the field, but also off the field, of how Cristiano has managed his career, who at almost 40 years old, is still competing, he is a very good example. Lamine, with the quality that he has, if he does not make mistakes and knows well what he has to do, and I think that he is aware of all his responsibilities, he has all the conditions to succeed at the highest level of world football. I do not see anyone like him in terms of talent. He is number one.
"Messi has always shown himself to be a great professional and an impressive player. He is a good example, of course.
"Nowadays in the world of football there are a lot of people who try to be close to the players and so what Lamine has to do is to focus on his work and on Barça, and nothing else, and to continue with his friends from the past and to be very careful with the people who get close to the players.
"[Players] should not think about business, they should focus on their work, otherwise in a year or two they will be worried about the money they lost somewhere. He has everything to be the number one in the world, avoiding certain things, being focused and following the best examples, he will win all the collective trophies and many individual ones."
GettyWHAT NEXT?
Even at the age of 17, Yamal is already carrying the weight of Barcelona on his shoulders, with everything to play for in La Liga in the second half of the season after a substantial wobble to end 2024. In the slightly longer-term, he could very well match Lionel Messi in another way if the legend's former number 10 shirt becomes available in time for next season.