FC Barcelona has been known for producing legends Messi, Ronaldinho, Xavi, and Iniesta. But in 2025, they’ve found a new star in making Lamine Yamal. Lamine Yamal has been extraordinary for FC Barcelona this season, making himself one of the most exciting young talents in world football. But who does this youngster idolize and consider his hero? Let’s take a look:
Who is it?
When you are a Barcelona fan who was born between 2005 and 2008, your idol is undoubtedly Messi. However, this is not true for Barcelona’s 2007-born starlet, Lamine. In a recent interview, Lamine clarified that his idol is Neymar Jr.
He stated: “I saw Neymar play for Santos when I was just five,” Yamal said. “Then I saw him again at the Camp Nou when I was seven, and I was hooked.”
It wasn’t Neymar’s technical ability that made him fall in love with the game, it was his flair, skill, and outrageous dribbles. Lamine cleared out football is not always about goals and trophies, it is the time you enjoy on the pitch.
Lamine used to watch YouTube edits of Neymar and copied his skills in football games. This shows the “AURA” Neymar had among kids.
The Resemblance in Play Style
There are clear flashbacks of Neymar’s time at Barcelona when we see Lamine with the ball. From the way, Lamine glides past defenders and unthinkably expresses the flair making the resemblance clear. Both use the technique to take on the player one-on-one, using close ball control, body feints, and Brazilian street football skills.
We’ve seen Lamine celebrating like Neymar in many games for Barcelona. His dressing sense, personality, and actions are quite similar to the Brazilian as well. We hope Lamine builds his own legacy at the club, a lot better than his idol. Many people say that Lamine’s playing style is similar to Neymar, but I believe Lamine is a better version of Neymar. I see a blend of Messi and Neymar together in the youngster. His skills and technical ability would be quite resembling to the Brazilian, but I think that Lamine’s balance and agility is quite similar to the GOAT, Lionel Messi.
While Lamine is still young, the echoes of Neymar’s influence are already present and we hope to see this for years. We full heartedly wish Lamine’s career doesn’t end like his idol, and Lamine takes his decisions with maturity. Neymar destroyed his illustrious career by leaving Barcelona for PSG. What I think about the Brazilian is that he overestimated his potential. He wanted to step out of Messi’s shadow and carve out his crafted legacy as the head. PSG offered him a contract with the promise of being the face of their team. There was no other star in PSG at that time to match the hype and talent Neymar had. He aimed to win the Ballon d’Or, a goal he thought would be easier to achieve in Paris. I really hope, Lamine doesn’t think anything about this and stays at Barcelona for a long time