When my friends, none of them Barca fans, discuss Lamine this morning it means one thing to me - he's one of the best on the planet. Didn't have this feeling for so long, maybe 15 years, the Messi unstoppable 2008-12 period. And they hated Messi for being this good, being a Barca player, not their club's.
He reminds me of those slick Moroccan/North African players you see on YouTube—there’s definitely that same kind of flair in his DNA
You can see shades of Adel Taarabt/Ben Arfa in the way Yamal plays. Like I can picture Yamal doing a lot of the same stuff in this video for example:
But what sets him apart (so far) is his decision-making. He’s not just flair; he knows when to use it and plays for the team. Unlike a certain Brazilian ball-hogger
The two actions in the first half, the goal and the shot off the crossbar, pure peak Neymar level. I think he is dangerously close to peak Neymar at 17, quite insane how good he is.
He cooked Mikhytarian at his goal with just a drop of a shoulder. Nobody else can do that.
Still think Barca will evolve to him being given more freedom to get central more and head towards a LW that can stretch game for him but few years away yet unless Raphinha wants out... Raphinha could even fit at AM in that scenario anyway.
Prime Messi is a lvl above him but he is on prime Ney level (or will be soon), absolute stunning considering that he is only 17, his development will be interesting 💯
If Lameen moves centrally then who comes onto the right?
We would then need to sign two wingers, unless somehow Diarra or Toni become the man. But both of those look like they will eventually succeed centrally too.
I think it's best to keep Lamine on the right for as long as possible, until his productivity is so outstanding to move him centrally like when Messi moved.