Who is Lamine Yamal, the 15-year-old striker that Xavi could make his debut on Sunday in Barcelona

The duel that will star Barcelona against Atlético de Madrid at the Camp Nou on Sunday for the 30th round of the Spanish league will not only leave the team led by Xavi Hernández one step closer to the title, but will also be recorded in the history books if there is the debut of a young man who whoever passes only to the Masia presents as one of the most dazzling presences in the club in recent decades: Lamine Yamal.

Born on 13 July 2007 in Mataró, 30 kilometers north-east of the Catalan capital, Yamal, included for the first time in Xavi’s squad for Sunday’s match, would become, if he played, the youngest in history to wear the first shirt Barça team jersey: he would do it at 15 years and 284 days. He thus surpassed the record of Vicenç Martínez Alama, who played his first game on October 18, 1941 at the age of 16 years and 279 days.

The left-footed man, who works as a right winger or centre-forward, has been playing for Barcelona since he was seven years old, when he entered the pre-Benjamin category. He has grown rapidly, even faster than Messi, who at his age was a member of the squad of the Cadet division, while he is completing his first season in Juvenil A led by Óscar López and in which Javier Saviola is an assistant.

Although he has yet to play a single game for subsidiary Barça Atlètic, he became the youngest player to play in the UEFA Youth League, a competition for under-19s, and also the first to integrate the selected Spanish under-19 .

For a couple of weeks now, Xavi has been making him participate in the main team’s training sessions. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to demonstrate his qualities in Juvenil A. Last weekend, after being sidelined for a few games due to a disciplinary sanction he was handed down for misconduct during a concentration with the Under-19s, he scored twice in a 4-3 win over Mallorca at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper stadium. Now he is at the gates of his first team debut.

“I am convinced that he is a player who can help us because he is talented. He has a lot of personality, he has one on one, the last pass, he is strong. I have talked to him and he is grateful and happy. If the circumstance arises that he can participate, I’m sure he will help us,” praised Xavi after confirming the first call-up for the striker who still lives in La Masia.

“Lamine is different. Just like Pedri reminds me of Andrés Iniesta, Lamine has things from many players. The difference from my stadium is a tremendous cheekiness in these young players. They have tremendous recklessness and terrible self-confidence. He’s not afraid. He has had some wonderful training sessions,” added the coach.