Lamine Yamal is the youngest player to ever feature at a European Championship (Image: Getty)
Lamine Yamal’s prodigious talent should see him barred from playing at Euro 2024. That’s the tongue-in-cheek view of his Spain team-mate, Ferran Torres, who can’t get into Luis de la Fuente’s starting line-up ahead of the 16-year-old.
"He should be banned," joked Torres during an interview with The Guardian. "What this kid is doing at 16 years of age!" La Roja are gearing up for a knockout showdown with Georgia on Sunday and Yamal is expected to come back into the side after being rested against Albania.
The Barcelona star, who turns 17 the day before the final, will be breaking German employment rules if Spain and Georgia go to extra-time. Strictly speaking, under-18s are prohibited from working past 11pm in the host nation.
"I’ll report him to the police after July 14," added Torres. "Let him help us win it first. I didn't know that. I'm going to go and tell him now to wind him up. There's a joke to be played here."
Yamal’s electric performances are made even more striking by the fact he has passed his school exams during the course of the tournament. The youngster recently sat the Spanish equivalent of his GCSEs and is still given homework by a tutor.
Ferran Torres shares a dressing room with Lamine Yamal for Spain and Barcelona (Image: Getty)
“I just came out from the training session and I’ve been told it all went well,” he told radio station Onda Cero. "I go to class and every day they give me different homework. Sometimes they give me more to do at home, but I do it every day.
“If they see that we’re in the quarter-finals or the last 16, they don’t give me much trouble. But on my days off, my tutor does tell me to do this or that assignment.”
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Spain were the only team at Euro 2024 to win all three of their group games. Yamal started on the right wing, where he is able to cut in on his superb left foot, against Croatia and Italy. He was then used from the bench against Albania as Spain were already through and De la Fuente opted to field a much-changed team.
Yamal made his senior Barca debut more than two months shy of his 16th birthday. He finished last season with seven goals in 50 games for the Catalan giants, before going on to become the youngest-ever player at a European Championship.
