FC Barcelona renewed the contract of star attacker Lamine Yamal until 2031 yesterday. The teenager is yet to turn 18 but is already one of the best players in the world and it bodes well that the Catalan club has managed to secure his future.
Lamine broke into the Barcelona first team under Xavi Hernandez early in the 2023/24 season. Initially used as a substitute, the teenager soon won the Spanish tactician’s trust and ended the season as one of the first names on the team sheet.
By the time the 2024/25 season, Lamine had already lifted the Euros with Spain, playing a starring role and was recognized as a star. The Spaniard was one of Hansi Flick’s most important players to begin with and his stature has only been on the rise since.
Lamine wants to keep growing
Now, as per Mundo Deportivo, Lamine Yamal wants to continue to grow under Hansi Flick and as the logical next step, the teenager hopes for a couple of things that he would like for the German coach to do for him next season.
The first one is that Lamine hopes for Hansi Flick to substitute him out in fewer games than he has this season. The Spaniard hopes to take advantage of tiring defensive legs towards the end of games to keep improving his goalscoring and chance-creating numbers.
The other hope that Yamal has is for Flick to add him to the penalty and set-piece lists in the upcoming season. Currently, the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo are a part of that list and the 17-year-old wants to be involved too.
Set-pieces could be a good option
The report mentions that the Spaniard believes that his power and technique when it comes to ball-striking could help the team from dead-ball situations and would like to play a more active role when it comes to the same.
It is clear that Lamine wants to keep growing and increasing his importance to the team. The 17-year-old has a great manager in Hansi Flick who will know when to give added responsibilities to the youngster and it remains to be seen what the German coach does.
If he develops into the set-piece threat he envisions, Barcelona may finally fill the void left by Lionel Messi in dead-ball situations. The journey is far from over, and the next chapter could be even more thrilling.
