Lamine Yamal officially turned 18 today (July 13), a milestone marking the beginning of a new chapter in both his career and personal life.

🎂 Natural talent enters adulthood

Yamal was discovered under coach Xavi, when he was not yet 16 years old. However, no one expected that in less than 2 years, Yamal would create such a terrible influence in the football world without having to wait until his 18th birthday.

Just after his 17th birthday, Yamal helped Spain defeat Kylian Mbappe’s France in the semi-finals, and then win the EURO 2024 championship. And today, on the day he officially entered adulthood, Yamal has a record that only a few legends have achieved at the age of 18.

In fact, of the greatest names in football history, only Pele and Diego Maradona have ever achieved such a feat by their 18th birthdays. Other legends such as Alfredo Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi only truly exploded as adults.

The numbers speak for themselves. Yamal has now passed the 100-game mark for Barcelona’s first team, scoring 25 goals and providing 27 assists in 106 appearances. Meanwhile, those who witnessed him in La Masia will remember his astonishing stat: 301 goals in just 151 games at sevens level. When he moved up to eleven, Yamal went on to score 56 goals in 93 games.

⭐ Surpassing Ronaldo and Messi, comparable to Pele and Maradona

On his 18th birthday, Di Stefano had not even made his River Plate debut. Johan Cruyff had made 10 appearances and scored four goals for Ajax. Cristiano Ronaldo had five goals in 19 appearances for Sporting Lisbon, while Messi had only scored his first goal, against Albacete, after nine appearances, from a Ronaldinho assist. Pele was different. At 18, he had scored 83 goals in 71 appearances for Santos, and had won the 1958 World Cup with Brazil at the age of 17, scoring nine goals in seven games.

Maradona also shocked Argentine football with 41 goals in 91 games for Argentinos Juniors at the age of 18 and won the title of top scorer of the national championship. He would have attended the 1978 World Cup with the national team if coach Cesar Luis Menotti had not left him out of the final list. When he entered adulthood, Maradona had only played 4 times for Argentina. Meanwhile, Cruyff, Ronaldo and Messi had not even debuted for the national team at that time.

On the contrary, Yamal immediately took advantage of the opportunity at the first major tournament, EURO 2024, to help Spain win the championship. Currently, he has 21 matches and 6 goals for the Spanish national team. In terms of club titles, none of the above legends can compare to Yamal at the age of 18. He currently has 2 La Liga championships, 1 King’s Cup and 1 Spanish Super Cup in his collective title collection.

However, Yamal understands that the road ahead is still very long. Because in football, what matters is not how you start, but how you finish. History only remembers Di Stefano’s 5 European Cups, Pele’s 3 World Cups, Maradona’s 1986 World Cup, Cruyff’s 2 European Cups, Ronaldo’s 5 Champions Leagues, or his 35 titles and 672 goals in Barcelona’s shirt. Those are great achievements, difficult to repeat.

💰 Super contract

If on a personal level, turning 18 marks an important turning point for Yamal, on a professional level, this is a big leap. From the moment he reaches adulthood, Yamal will officially sign a new contract with Barcelona, valid until 2031 and “absolutely protected” by a super-huge release clause of up to 1 billion euros. That is a number that shows Yamal’s strategic importance in the long-term plans of the Catalan team.

Even before he reached adulthood, Yamal has shown that he is ready for big challenges. Last season, he contributed 18 goals and 25 assists, helping Barcelona win the domestic treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup), all of which came against arch-rivals Real Madrid. Yamal also won the Golden Boy and Kopa awards for “Best Young Player of the Year”, and the question is no longer if, but when, he will win the “Ballon d’Or”. His confidence is not only evident on the pitch: “I will bring the Champions League to the Nou Camp”, Yamal declared after Barca were eliminated by Inter Milan in the semi-finals of the 2024/25 Champions League.

And Yamal will begin his journey to fulfill that promise with a new shirt number (No. 10) inherited from his close friend Ansu Fati, who has just moved to Monaco. It is a decision that shows the absolute trust that Barcelona has placed in Yamal, and that the future of the Catalan team will be placed on the “precious gem” who just turned 18 years old.