Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal said it’s amazing to have young supporters looking up to him in the same way he once sought inspiration from Lionel Messi.
Yamal, 17, has scored 14 goals and created 22 more this season, keeping Barça alive in all three competitions heading into Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid (4 p.m. ET LIVE on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes), which is followed by a Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan.
As a result, he has quickly established himself as an idol to a new generation of fans, with his shirt one of the most-sold in the club’s official store and the most-seen in the stands at the Olympic Stadium.
“It’s incredible,” he told ESPN as part of the new Powerade Campaign which features “The 304” film in reference to his neighbourhood. “When I was a kid, I wore Neymar’s shirts, Messi’s jerseys, all these players, so seeing kids wearing my shirt means that I’m their inspiration, at least in football.
“It’s something I never thought would happen so fast: [seeing] those 13-year-old kids in the shirt of a kid who’s only four years older than them. It is amazing.
“My mum always tells me to think about [the significance]; that it doesn’t happen to just anyone, going somewhere and seeing a kid wearing your shirt. It is something that makes me very happy and is one of the things I like the most.”
Yamal’s rise in the game has been rapid. Since making his debut as a 15-year-old nearly two years ago, on April 29, 2023, he has won the European Championship with Spain and a string of individual accolades.
Earlier this week, he won the breakthrough of the year award at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony, adding it to the Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy prizes he claimed last year.
However, despite being fast-tracked to the pinnacle of the game, Yamal said he has not lost the values instilled in him by his parents growing up in Rocafonda, a neighbourhood in Mataró, a city 30km north of Barcelona.
“My parents were my references in everything,” he added. “Everybody always tells me that I have a bit of my mum and a bit of my dad. I think that on the pitch I have a lot of my father and off the pitch I have a lot of my mother.
“They are two people I have grown up with and they have taught me everything. They have fought for me. The affection my father has for me is unimaginable. Thanks to him I have learned the love that one has for the family, because he is a person that gives a lot of love to people.
“So I believe that everything I have and that I will have is thanks to them. I always say I will never be able to thank them fully, but I will try.”
Possessing a skyrocketing profile does have some drawbacks for a teenager, with Yamal joking to ESPN that time he would like to spend with his friends is now taken up giving interviews.
He is also limited in what he can do with his friends — with public spaces not really an option — but he says the rewards far outweigh any downsides.
“Of course, I miss things [a normal 17-year-old would do], but I would not change it,” Yamal said. “At the end of the day, being able to see my younger brother happy, having a beautiful childhood is something that fills me with happiness.
“To see the peace of mind my mum and dad have, it’s something I could never have imagined. My grandma calling me and telling me how well she’s doing. It’s priceless. I would not change it for anything.”
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