'This kid has to play for Barcelona' - How Catalans beat Espanyol to Lamine Yamal even though wonderkid 'forgot his boots' at trial

Albert Puig, who was a youth coach at Barcelona between 2005-10, has revealed how close Yamal was to joining Espanyol when he was at La Torreta academy. He said a six-year-old Yamal forgot to bring his boots to his Barcelona trial and that Juan Gascon, a president of La Torreta, insisted he "has to play for Barca".

He told Jijantes: "Lamine Yamal had already gone on a trial with Espanyol. They had noticed him before. Then, two key figures at La Torreta appeared. The president, Rafa Rodriguez and Juan Gascon. Also the scout, Isidre Gil, absolute legend. If I’m not mistaken, he also scouted Marc Casado and many others. So, Isidre Gil goes to La Torreta’s playground, and there in the bar he asks if they have any good players. And Gascon answers, 'Look, there’s a little dark-skinned kid who’s really good'. Talking about the guy [Lamine Yamal] Espanyol had scouted. The next day they had a match and they won 6-0. He said, 'Well, this kid has to play for Barça'.

"Then Lamine Yamal came for a trial. A funny detail: Juan Gascon told him a thousand times to not forget anything, but of course, what happens? He forgets his boots. Well, we are talking about a six-year-old kid. And obviously we lent a pair of boots.

"Despite being one or even two years younger than others, he stands out incredibly. And, obviously, since I was there, you can imagine who made the decision. From that moment, we told him to keep coming back, and we formally notified them that we wanted him."

Yamal is, arguably, the best Barcelona academy product the club have produced in decades. Not only was he voted the best young footballer in the world, the 17-year-old is already one of the best players on the planet. How different it could have been if he had joined Espanyol..

Yamal could next feature for Barca at home to lowly Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Monday night.