Lamine Yamal, the “new Neymar”, worries Spain

Nobody wants that label. But no player in the world today carries it more than 19-year-old Barcelona star Lamine Yamal. Two weeks ago, I used this comparison on a debate show on Radio Marca, here in Spain, and my colleague David Bernabeu – the Catalan journalist who has covered the club’s daily life for years – was furious and nearly lost his temper.

It was as if I was casting a curse and threatening the child. But it is a sign of the tension surrounding the phenomenon of Spanish teenagers. A famous girlfriend, a father in trouble, a hectic life off the field and injuries are just some of the similarities that make the comparison appear more and more frequently on radio and television programmes.

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People in the bubble will turn up their noses and try to say that a man whose fortune is estimated at more than six billion riyals can never be considered an example of mismanagement.

But Neymar is not a banker. An athlete’s success is measured by team and individual achievements, victories and feats. As Uncle Ben said when advising Peter Parker on what to do with his newfound abilities: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Possessing an extraordinary talent means a moral obligation not to waste it: to use it for good.

Neymar was born into arguably one of the greatest talents in football history. It is no exaggeration to say that if he had taken his career more seriously, he would have won at least three Ballon d’Ors. It’s a matter of commitment: an athlete doesn’t have an 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. day. You need to measure every step and every daily decision based on the health of your body, because a poor night’s sleep can directly impact performance or recovery from an injury.

I imagine how difficult it is to advise a teenager to be aware of all this. Especially these kids who start playing at such a young age, spend a huge part of their childhood training, and all of a sudden, they sign their first contract and become a rich celebrity. It’s normal to feel invincible. Untouchable. We all carry lessons learned from the mistakes of our youth.

Ronaldo always talks about this – publicly and privately with players – trying to use his legendary figure as a mentor so that many youngsters do not repeat the mistakes he and his teammates made.

But people in the bubble don’t seem to understand such lessons, or prefer to ignore them. They insist on an “us against the world” rhetoric, portraying the player as a misunderstood young man, a sermon from an outcast and alienated cult. Even leaders reinforce this position, as Alexander Matos did this week with a fake social media post defending the indefensible.

After an exceptional year, in which he led Spain to the European Championship title and Barcelona to the Spanish Championship and the Copa del Rey, narrowly missing out on the Ballon d’Or to Ousmane Dembélé, Lamine Yamal has been in the news more off the pitch than on it. The parties, trips, controversial statements, and painful pain that directly affected the performance sparked a sharp disagreement between the club and the national team, which exchanged public criticism over the management of the player’s career.