Can Lamine Yamal handle the heat of stardom?

0:00Coming up on the Sky News Daily with me Neil Paterson. He is Barcelona's star winger, a kid earning tens of millions every year with fans around the world, who's now in the firing line for hiring people with dwarfism as entertainers for his birthday party. So, who is Lamin Nymal?

0:25Appropriately enough for a man who kicks a ball for a living, Lamin Nymal truly does have the world at his feet. A footballing talent of prodigious proportions. At just 18, he's already being compared to the greats of the game, even inheriting the number 10 shirt from the legendary Lionel Messi.

0:46There are three football legends, he says, of the number 10 jersey. Messi, Ronaldinho and Maradona. I will try to follow that legacy. And yeah, those are some big boots to fill. but a contract worth tens of millions a year suggests Barcelona has some confidence. But with the cash comes the temptation. In the end, I work for Barca. He says, I play for Barca. But when I'm out of the city, I enjoy my life and that's it. And enjoy it, he certainly does. He recently threw a lavish party to celebrate his 18th birthday. but when it emerged that he had hired people with dwarfism as entertainers the backlash was immediate and legal action was threatened.

1:32So, can Luminiumal stay on the straight and narrow and seal his place as one of the greatest ever?

1:43Well, a little later I will be speaking to a sports psychologist to try and understand the mind of a teenager with all that talent and, of course, all that cash. But let's begin with a football journalist who's been following Yamal's rise to glory. My name is Summer Hunter. I am a sports broadcast journalist who has predominantly been covering Spanish football for the better part of the last 15 years or so. Let's start, shall we, at the very beginning. And as with so many of these Wunderkind footballers, he really did start from humble origins. He absolutely did. He's from a district called Rocafonda, which is part of a city called Mataró, which is about an hour or so to the north of Barcelona on the coast.

2:26And as you say, it was very working class. It was a bit of a rough neighborhood, an immigrant neighborhood. But the thing is, he really shone, even at the age of four, he was already picked up by a local club, if you can believe it, which is just mind blowing. And he was playing street football with kids who were basically his age or a few years older. And that's really where I think he developed those skills that make him so unique today. Because you don't really see that, especially in Spain, you don't really see that anymore. Street football, I think, is still more attributed to Argentina, to Brazil, to South America, but not so much in Europe, where it feels as though players are more prefab.

3:05They're kind of made in a factory. They're kind of copy and paste, if you will, in a way, whereas he still has that element of unpredictability about him. But nonetheless, I think it really is important to highlight just where he did come from and the fact that he came from immigrant parents from Africa. and actually just saw a really cool story the other day about his name so his first name is actually a compound name it's lamin yamal it's not just lamin and yamal is not his last name and the story behind that is that a few years before he was born when they were having some financial difficulties his parents there were two men one was named lamin the other one was yamal and they helped his parents to pay the rent and in response to that they said we'll name our son after both of you.

3:51And that's actually how he got his name. And kind of the rest is history, as you say. But of course, you've covered football for so many years and so many of these football prodigies fall by the wayside. He has not. Well, describe him as a player. The shortest way to describe what he's like right now, he's almost like a blend between Lionel Messi and Neymar. Obviously, he is his own unique person and unique personality, but he certainly has elements of both players. So he's got that kind of lovely combination between the two, and he's exceptionally good at dribbling. He's very difficult to stop because he's good with both feet, so he's very unpredictable.

4:28He's jumped massively in the last year in terms of his goal scoring numbers and assists. So he scored, I think it was 18 and provided 25 assists in all competitions, which is still pretty good considering. It's remarkable. Try and put it into a little bit of context for us then. I mean, you're talking to someone who can do the sum total of three keepy uppies. I am no football expert, but you are making comparisons between an 18 year old boy, as Colin Bordy is, and footballers whose names even I recognise. I mean, you mentioned Lionel Messi. He has taken on the number 10 jersey at Barcelona. For people who are not into football, just put that into a little bit of context.

5:07The number 10 in football in general is quite a sacred number. It's a very, very powerful, important number because so many of the best players in the history of the game have chosen that number to wear on the back of their shirt. The weight of that shirt, of that number, is going to be incredibly heavy. But he seems to be really gracefully accepting the fact that he's been given that number. And I think he really will rise to the occasion. But the thing is, I think because he is so good, he's already set himself at a higher standard. And I think we all hold him to a higher standard, kind of like we did with Lina Masi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

5:43We just set them apart and set the bar so high with them, the expectations so high with them, because we knew that they could actually reach those expectations and deliver. And we're already doing that with a 16, 17, now 18 year old, which is mind blowing. And the thing is, he's so grounded. He's so calm. He's ambitious, but he's got a really good head on his shoulders and he really handles pressure beautifully and actually i think he really kind of thrives in it little wonder then that barsler are moving heaven earth the kitchen sink and multiple millions around to ensure that he stays with them talk to me a little bit about his contract it is a thing of beauty it really is a thing of beauty especially if you're Laminia Mall, right?

6:28So he actually just, I think it was a couple of days ago now, he put pen to paper on extending his contract. Originally set to 2026, now it's to 2031. He's reportedly going to be earning 15 million a year, which I think actually would be about 20 million with bonuses. His release clause is set at 1 billion, not million, billion with a B, euros. Seriously, to get him out of his contract, it would cost another club a billion. Yes. Is he worth it? I reckon that there are probably a few clubs out there who would say yes. If he could help a club actually generate a billion or even more than that, then absolutely he'll be worth it financially.

7:09I mean, this is a generational talent. As Simon Inzaghi put it after the game against Inso, he said this is someone who comes around once every 50 years. I mean, this is incredibly rare. He is like the messiah. He is the one that's going to take Barca to this new golden era of success that they have severely been missing out on in the last 10 years or so. So they hold him to a very high regard and that's why the pressure is so immense. I suppose that's the point though, isn't it? That when you live your life in the spotlight, in the way in which Lamin-Yemal does, everyone can see everything that you're up to.

7:48And that brings us on, of course, to the 18th birthday party. Just explain exactly what the controversy in inverted commas is here. So the other day he turned 18 and there were reports that came out that said he or whoever organized this 18th birthday party on his behalf, they hired people with dwarfism as entertainment. Obviously, people caught wind of this. It caused huge outrage and a huge uproar. And people were not particularly happy for good reason about this. and now it's being investigated. That's about the extent of what we know for right now, but certainly he could come onto a lot of scrutiny for this.

8:30How is this sort of behaviour from younger footballers viewed in Spain very specifically? Here in the UK, we have quite a quixotic relationship with our footballers. On the one hand, we hold them up as role models for young people. On the other, there is a general acceptance that they make an awful lot of money and they are going to be spending it and will probably see them spending it. I do think a lot of people see what gets reported about these young players, about the way that they spend their money, the way they splash the cash and so on. I think they're very concerned about it, actually.

9:07And there was a time not too long ago when, certainly, Lionel Messi, when he was a teenager, was kind of in a similar position. And I won't name names, but let's just say that there were certain players at the club at Barca that were removed because they were seen as bad influences for him. So I think there are scenarios where action can be taken, even if it's done kind of quietly to make sure that they can protect their asset. Because at the end of the day, a footballer is an asset for a football club. And Lamin-Yamal is obviously a very expensive asset at the moment. And I think that the people who are running the show will do everything that they can to protect that.

9:51Do you then have a degree of sympathy for Lamine Jamal and other players who find themselves in the glorified position that he is in? Yes, he is a young kid. Yes, he has the world at his feet in terms of the profession. But he has been thrust into the public consciousness. he has fists fools of money shoved into every pocket and into every hand i do because at the end of the day i think it's a lot for someone to take on who's not even fully mentally or emotionally developed yet i don't even think he really fully understands the position that he's in i think it's really a lot for an older teenager now i mean i will say that he's done incredibly well overall so far but it'll be interesting to see how he continues to handle it because sometimes the media can be vicious sometimes social media can be vicious and he doesn't seem to be too phased at the moment by a lot of these comments but how long is that going to last at some point is he going to have a breakdown is it mentally going to be too much for him as so many footballers have come out and talked about how they need to eventually go to therapy they're human at the end of the day I think a lot of people forget that they're not they're not robots so not some intangible figure out there just running around kicking a football making a lot of money they are human us normal people can't relate to that we can't understand what they're going through on that level you know of having tens of thousands of people hurling abuse at you on a regular basis but Semra that we are even asking the question may he have a breakdown in later in life might ego off the rails in the way in which we've seen other footballers do.

11:33Does that not suggest that actually football itself as a sport, as a profession, has a problem when it comes to young men achieving their dreams, earning so much money and not being properly guided through that? Yes, I absolutely think there is a problem. And I think that's why it's so essential that they do get the right support in their inner circle as quickly as possible, as young as possible. I think football does need to take a look at itself and find ways to do better at being able to provide support for these young men who find themselves in these difficult circumstances. And I think now, finally, footballers are starting to feel more comfortable about opening up about it because it's been such a taboo subject for so long, hasn't it?

12:25so i think now finally they're starting to open up about mental health and about what they've been going through and i think that that's that's a building block in the right direction of where we need to go as well in terms of learning how to understand these people understand these footballers and i think we also have a role to play in that as well as a society and so it's uh it will definitely be important for football to have a look at itself and figure out the ways in which we can do this better certainly will samra hunter pleasure to chat to you. Thanks very much for joining us on The Daily.

12:55Thank you for having me. My pleasure. Okay, so let's speak to Andy Lane, a sports psychologist. He's worked with elite athletes and coaches across a number of sports. He also happens to be a professor at the University of Wolverhampton. Look, when you hear of stories like the one we've been discussing, of young professional sportsmen going off the rails, making bad decisions, are you in any way surprised? Absolutely not at all. The fans get a bit seduced into seeing them, but behind that, there's still an 18-year-old, 17-year-old. All the parents who've got 18-year-old children will know that they're basically nurturing a child and they're constantly making bad decisions.

13:36Why would we expect anything else? Even worse, we put so much resource in front of them. They're just not very experienced in life. We all learn from making bad decisions and they've got to make their own bad decisions. And then we learn by doing something, reflect on what we wanted from that and come back a better person as a consequence. At 18, so many of those decisions have been made for you and around you. And as a professional athlete, so many of them, you're in a very supported environment. We're not making that many decisions. So it's not surprising. OK, so take me inside the mind then of a young professional sportsman, the pressures that are on them, the concerns that they are living with, The day-to-day struggle of what it means to be a young professional sports star.

14:21The day-to-day is training. Lots of things are done for you, around you. Professional football is a pretty great life in that they turn up for training. A group of people in and around their own age. First team squads have their own training area, their own cooks. It's a very privileged, enjoyable life. They're highly coached, nurtured, monitored, all to drive to someone to be the best they can possibly be. I mean, the pressure is we'll be playing on a Saturday. The pressure would be when you come to perform in the public spotlight, whether you are fully aware of what that involves. And anxiety, for example, stops many developing players from getting to the top level because as they start playing on bigger stages, they become highly self-conscious.

15:03And that interrupts the flow of how they're going to play. There's more mental load in what they're doing. It makes it more difficult. Most of my work as a sports psychologist would be to try to negotiate to get them to have a mindset that all you're doing is kicking a football. All you're doing is playing the game. And to see it in the simplicity of what it is. How do you achieve that then? How do you take a player who is struggling with all the cumulative pressure of performing on the park, maintaining that social media profile, making sure that everyone likes you? You can get the mindset into saying, actually, you need to look at this in the same sort of professional way is as if kicking a ball straight in a game of how you manage your social media.

15:47And because of what you won't want to do is a whole load of bad tackles on social media, which are a whole load of things that backfire. It strikes me, Andy, that it sounds like there is a duty of care to owe to these young men. What I don't know is who owes them that duty of care. Is it the parents? Is it the club? Is it the manager? Is it the team, the entourage that these young professionals seem to carry with them these days? I say it's all of them. Parents exactly have got a duty of care. Any parent, never mind the famous ones, to try and get their 18-year-old to be on board with them is really difficult.

16:21The older players in the club possibly have got a massive opportunity to influence the younger players because they are the ones being looked up to. If all of them buy into that, then it works really well. Yes, we want young people to have a great time. But the other side to that is that they need some awareness of where it's absolutely going to go badly for them. Do you think there is perhaps then a degree of hypocrisy on the part of people who point the finger and criticise these young men so easily? I think we should let them be 18 year olds and they need some help in where they can be 18 year olds going around making bad decisions.

16:57They're not going to, you can't sugarcoat them to the point of putting them in so that they don't do anything. They've got to go and learn and live their life. Other than that, we think we parent them the whole time. and Molly Coddler. They never make their own decisions. Andy, I've got the phones just ringing. It's Lamin Yamal. He wants to know what he should do. What would be your advice in the situation that he's finding himself in right now? Try to refocus everything around football. Keep out of the headlines. Keep playing his football. And the best thing he can do is to play as well as possible in front of a huge audience, which will shift his public's persona.

17:32Employ people to deal with the issues regarding the potential court cases that are coming from this would be one thing. It would be to have his non-football life so it's really enjoyable, but not hurting anybody else. And somebody should be pushing for that, so that's possible. And that's a lot for this week on The Daily. We are back again Monday. Do have a lovely weekend.

18:02Boom! No! Come on. Kids, what should we order for dinner? Pizza. Thai. Tacos. Hey, boys, let's not get loco. What kind of restaurant sells pizza, Thai, and tacos? I'll never please all my guys. Why can't we have food without the fight? With Wonder, you can combine 20 restaurants and one delivery, so your family never has to compromise. Download the app today. Wonder, food without the fight.