Comparison with football's greatest names does not affect Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal wants to build an identity that does not depend on comparisons to other players

Updated on:

30 Dec 2025, 5:22 pm

2 min read

18-year-old Lamine Yamal has been impressing the football world since his debut with FC Barcelona a couple of years ago. At only 18 years of age, he has become one of the most dependable players for both his club and country, Spain.

Quite naturally, comparison of his skills with some of the world's greatest footballers has already begun. Currently wearing the legendary No 10 shirt at Barcelona, comparison with Lionel Messi has become inevitable.

However, Lamine has opened up about how he feels when he is compared to the likes of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lamine Yamal is looking to establish his own identity in the football world

Lamine Yamal, who has already scored 7 goals and has given 6 assists for Barcelona, said that comparisons with football's big names does not affect him, since he is committed to a greater goal.

🚨 Lamine Yamal: “It’s best not to compare yourself to anyone”.

“Players like Cristiano Ronaldo did what they did because they wanted to be themselves and not compare themselves to others”.

“I want to build my own path”. pic.twitter.com/erfd0Q4DYU
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 28, 2025

According to Fabrizio Romano, Lamine said, "It’s best not to compare yourself to anyone. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo did what they did because they wanted to be themselves and not compare themselves to others. I want to build my own path".

There is already so much pressure to perform consistently at the highest level, it is probably the best thing that Lamine does not allow the relentless comparisons to get to him.

Lamine Yamal has already collected quite a few accolades in his short time on the field. Recently, at the Globe Soccer Awards, he won the Best Forward and was also awarded the extremely prestigious Maradona Award at such a young age.

He was in the running for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA Best awards in 2025. However, he came too close to winning both times before ultimately losing to Franca and PSG's Ousmane Dembele who had a phenomenal season.

After Dembele won the Ballon d'Or, in the spirit of true sports-person-ship, Lamine Yamal congratulated his colleague. He wrote on Instagram, "God’s plan is perfect, you have to climb to get to the top. Happy for the Kopa trophy x2 and congratulate @o.dembele7 for the award and the great season".

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