At just 18 years old, Lamine Yamal has already established himself as one of Barcelona‘s most important players thanks to his attacking prowess and goal-scoring ability. However, a Dutch soccer legend has issued a strong warning regarding the young forward.
Ruud Gullit expressed concern over the enormous workload the youngster is accumulating and set off alarm bells within the Barça camp regarding potential future injuries.
Warning to Barça About Yamal
Yamal suffered from serious groin problems that affected him early this season, forcing him to miss several matches and undergo radiofrequency treatment to avoid surgery.
Despite this, Lamine has played 44 matches for Barcelona, scoring 23 goals and providing 18 assists while leading the team’s offense-which is why Gullit expressed concern, seeing this “dependence” as the root of a potentially bigger problem:
“The only thing is, the team depends on him a lot. And he’s a very young player. I’m really worried he’ll get injured because they use him all the time,” he told AS (via Barca Blaugranes).
Furthermore, for Gullit, age is not a determining factor, as he has seen other stars just as young as Lamine suffer physical problems after being overloaded with matches for both club and country. Furthermore, with an eye on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Yamal is also expected to play a leading role for Spain, the former AC Milan player said:
“And they say, ‘Yes, but he’s young.’ But you saw it with Pedri, with Gavi. They have to play in a World Cup. Then you go to play in a World Cup with the youngsters and then you get injured. And coming back from an injury is tough. So I hope it doesn’t happen again. Therefore, I love what he does,” he added.
Beyond his concern, the former player made it clear that Yamal’s talent is unquestionable, but his message highlights the need to better manage his playing time to prevent a promising career from being derailed by physical issues.
Following their recent elimination from the Champions League by Atlético Madrid, Barça is focusing on its LaLiga fixtures, where they currently lead by nine points over Real Madrid, aiming for a second consecutive title.
Barcelona’s next match will be against Celta de Vigo in LaLiga, scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, at Spotify Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, Spain has been drawn into Group H alongside Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, and Cape Verde. On June 15, they will play their opening match against Cape Verde at 12:00 PM ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. At the same venue but on the 21st, they will face Saudi Arabia at 12:00 PM ET. Finally, on the 26th, they will play Uruguay at 8:00 PM ET at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
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