Barcelona winger and captain Raphinha has heaped reward on his teammate Lamine Yamal, predicting a future stuffed with accolades for the 17-year-old sensation.
Talking throughout an interview with Adri Contreras (h/t SPORT), Raphinha shared his admiration for the younger expertise from La Masia and revealed his confidence in Yamal’s distinctive potential.
Raphinha, who’s at the moment in wonderful kind, described Lamine as a rare participant with unparalleled abilities. He expressed that if he might “nationalise” any Barcelona teammate to play for the Brazilian nationwide crew, he would undoubtedly select Yamal.
“Lamine goes to win fairly a couple of Ballons d’Or… allow us to say three,” Raphinha predicted, highlighting the younger ahead’s distinctive expertise and trajectory.
Raphinha excluded himself from the race for such prestigious awards, saying he prefers the collective titles, saying:
“My aim is to be a greater model of myself daily. If it occurs, wonderful, however what issues to me are the collective titles.”
Raphinha expects nice issues from Lamine Yamal. (Picture by Alex Caparros/Getty Photographs)
On the identical time, the 28-year-old winger urged warning in drawing comparisons between Yamal and Lionel Messi.
The legendary former Barcelona captain has received a file eight Ballon d’Or awards, and Raphinha believes Yamal’s profession ought to be appreciated with out undue strain from comparisons.
When requested for his prediction for this season’s Champions League last, Raphinha confidently backed Barcelona to make it to the Allianz Area in Munich on 31 Could, envisioning a conflict between Barça and Manchester Metropolis.
Raphinha’s confidence displays the resurgence of Barcelona underneath supervisor Hansi Flick, who has reworked the crew right into a critical contender for main honours.
Having received the Spanish Tremendous Cup final weekend, Barcelona are gearing up for a vital Copa del Rey conflict towards Actual Betis within the Spherical of 16. They’re additionally third within the La Liga desk.
Within the Champions League, they at the moment sit second of their group with 15 factors, trailing solely Liverpool (18 factors).
With two matches remaining within the group stage, towards Benfica and Atalanta, Barça stay firmly in competition for European glory.