For their debuting starlet, Barcelona intends to employ "the Gavi strategy."
A historic event took place during the match between Barcelona and Real Betis on Saturday at Spotify Camp Nou. Gavi was replaced on the field in the 83rd minute by a player by the name of Lamine Yamal, who made his debut for Barça at the age of 15 years and 290 days.
In the end, the 15-year-old's third attempt proved successful because he had yet to receive his break under Xavi despite training with the first team for weeks and being called to the matchday squads against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
It is a known fact that Barcelona pampers the 15-year-old to a great extent. In fact, they are only waiting for him to turn 16 so that they can offer him his first professional contract.
Barcelona are currently in the process of finalizing the details of his contract. His projection in world football can be understood by the fact that despite being just 15 years of age, Jorge Mendes, one of the most important representatives in the world, paid a good amount of money to take him away from Ivan De la Pena.
Now that he has made his much-awaited debut, Barcelona seem to a have plan in place for the youngster, and Mike Puig, director of La Masia, explains that the idea is to execute the same strategy that they used for Gavi.
“We have a recent example with Gavi, who was the fourth youngest rookie in the League. These cases must be treated naturally and maintain the same degree of demand and rigour in all aspects,” explained Puig according to Diario SPORT.
“It is important that they continue to touch their feet on the ground. It is true that they experience a change. They lose their anonymity. They go from being anonymous to almost not being able to go outside. This has to be treated.
“When Gavi made his debut, I remember that I sat down with him and showed him the list of the ten youngest debutants in the history of Barça. Unfortunately, some of them had not made a career in the first team, they could not settle down.
In a few days, when I see Lamine, I’ll do the same. I’ll sit with him. I want him to explain his experience to me, but I will show him that list so he can see that he must continue working and that he must continue to have his feet on the ground. Because once you arrive, the important thing is to stay,” he added.
Puig added that since Yamal joined the team, the management has been closely monitoring his progress.
We have long been aware of his potential. We already had hints that he is a football player who will blaze through stages rapidly from the fact that he played with Youth A as a cadet.Together with the other players, we work on this with him from La Masia. It is our duty to also train the players as persons in this situation.
"It is a protective, healthy, and projective environment. They are necessary, receive treatment, and collaborate with psychologists, he said.
This is precisely how Barcelona want to safeguard their most valuable asset, and now that he has finally made his senior squad debut, there is a good probability that Xavi will take him on the preseason trip this summer.
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