Spain captain Alvaro Morata has tipped Lamine Yamal to become one of the best players in the world.
Yamal, 16, was unsurprisingly named in the La Roja squad for Euro 2024, with the attacker enjoying a strong 2023-24 campaign for Barcelona, scoring seven goals and registering 10 assists in 50 appearances.
The forward could have an important role to play for Luis de la Fuente‘s side this summer, and Morata has backed his international teammate to become one of the sport’s biggest stars.
“It’s a pleasure to have him playing with us. He offers something different. If he is lucky and doesn’t suffer major injuries, then he will be among the very best in the world, because despite being just 16 years old, he is already a step further than many others,” Morata told UEFA’s official website.
“He must mature, but that’s normal. Sometimes it seems he isn’t 16, it seems he is 23 or 24. Above all, we need to make him understand how important it is to manage matches mentally and also the fact that you sometimes need to slow down the match rather than trying to make something out of everything.
Yamal is set to create history at Euro 2024
“He is really good at dribbling, he has a great technique, but he must help us with that by understanding that there are certain matches where the most important thing is to protect the current result.”
As it stands, Kacper Kozłowski is the youngest player to feature in the finals of a European Championship, with the midfielder 17 years and 246 days old when he represented Poland against Spain in June 2021.
As a result, Yamal could create history if he features at all at the competition, which is almost certain, and he will be 16 years and 338 days old when Spain face Croatia in their Euro 2024 opener.
Atletico Madrid‘s Morata will also be a vital player for Spain this summer, with the 31-year-old the captain and leading goalscorer in the current squad with 35 strikes in 73 appearances.
“It’s an incredibly proud feeling [to captain Spain]. My family often sends me a photo of mine of the time when Spain won the first of their last two EURO [in 2008],” he added.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
