Barca's production line is insane. How the hell do you get Messi and then a talent like Yamal in succession?
He has a level of ability that, injuries permitting, he's a potential multiple Ballon D'Or winner throughout his career.
He's getting faster and stronger and his build is visibly changing as he turns into a young man, lest we forget he's still a boy, especially in footballing terms.
At these absurdly young ages, I've always had Pele and Maradona in a league of their own followed by what a 16-year old Cesc was doing, but I think Yamal usurped him on that totem and is now creating separation. Honestly, this kid was arguably the player of the tournament at the Euros, and if not #1, then in the conversation to be so, and he's better now than he was then. His rise to prominence is mind-boggling, and to this point in time, you're going to be extremely hard-pressed to find other 17-year olds to be in the running with how good he is at the age he is, or certainly to be proving it. Even young Ronaldo (Brazil) and Messi weren't doing this much on such a grand set of stages, which again highlights how off the charts what Yamal is doing is. There's also the fact that Yamal has no World Cup at 17 to play in, with his earliest opportunity being 2026 when he'll already be 18, which is a shame because he's already proven what he's capable of on the international stage at 16. There's little reason to doubt the World Cup would have been any different for him (than the Euros were) had he got to feature in it at the same age as Pele was.
His game is so consummate, which is bizarre. Usually when you see the extreme end with phenoms, they are all running, dribbling and bluster at these ages, full of energy and skill, but very much more drive towards a focal point and do something. Yamal isn't like that at all. He constantly picks the shrewdest option and rarely overcooks anything - he is sooo hard to plan for and play against because his snapshot decisions are mostly impeccable. Get too overzealous in pressing him and he'll use your vigour to take you out the game with a one-two or an early pass; don't press him and he'll run at you; try and hold your shape and he will use that to whip in a dangerous pass or cross. It's a real divide I see in him amongst even the legendary teenagers such as: Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Cruyff, Best.
Mbappe was another teen who had quite extraordinary decision making for his age, but nothing like this level of skill and craft, and that's not to slight Mbappe, rather, to state how much of a glitch this kid is.
If he carries on this trajectory and injuries don't ruin him, he'll be the one scooping up the individual awards and having the capability of winning Ballon's in 2's and 3's in terms of consecutive years. As things currently stand in the game, he needs a foil who is out of this world good to be his running mate because this kid is it in terms of natural lineage to the absolute top end of the game. He's a top #5 of all time 17-year old, for me, and even that might be squeezed down to top #3. Whether he can keep that going as an 18 and 19-year old really remains to be seen, but if he can, we're looking at something truly special straight off the back of something truly special in or very near retirement. Just how it usually is when the great ones pass the torch on to the next generation.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to state he's the most talented player since Neymar in terms of linear progression.
