Lamine Yamal: 'I don't want to become Messi'

The young talent Lamine Yamal emphasizes that he does not wish to be the "new Messi" of Barcelona, but wants to create his own journey, style, and legacy in football.

Rising star Lamine Yamal states he is not trying to become Barcelona’s “new Messi,” even though comparisons are inevitable since both came through the famous La Masia academy. At 18, the Spanish player says he wants to build his own legacy rather than live in the shadow of the Argentine legend.

Having stepped into the spotlight at 15, Yamal quickly became a phenomenon for Barcelona and European football. He has won La Liga with Barca, lifted EURO 2024 with Spain, earned the Kopa Trophy, Golden Boy 2025, and even finished second in this year's Ballon d'Or voting behind only Ousmane Dembele.

Nevertheless, Yamal remains grounded and humble. In an interview with CBS, he said: “I believe Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, but I’m not trying to be him. I want to follow my own path, not wear the number 10 jersey or play like him. If one day we face each other, it will be with mutual respect.”

Although he insists he does not want to imitate Messi, Yamal admits he learned from Messi’s passing style when he was younger: “Watching Messi, I realized every pass he makes could become a goal. I’ve always found passing more enjoyable than dribbling. It’s funny because as a kid, I wasn’t the type who liked dribbling; I preferred scoring goals and running a lot.”

Currently, Yamal is continuously improving himself, possessing breakthrough skills and refined ball control that remind fans of Messi. However, he believes being compared too much can cause young players to lose their identity.

“I don’t set specific expectations. When you reach your goals, it’s easy to lose motivation; when you don’t, you get disappointed. I just want to play football and enjoy every match. No matter what happens, when I step on the pitch, football is the only thing on my mind.”

So far, Yamal has scored 7 goals and provided 7 assists in 14 games for Barcelona in the 2025/26 season, playing a key role in helping the Catalan club lead La Liga, one point ahead of Real Madrid. Despite his great form, he remains calm and holds simple ambitions:

“I don’t want to break every record or score thousands of goals. I just want to enjoy football, bring joy to the fans, and hopefully inspire the younger generation.”

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