'Maybe it was Lamine Yamal who blessed Lionel Messi!' - Barcelona wonderkid's father jokes about epic photo and says he knew record-breaking Euro 2024 finalist was ‘going to be a star’

An image that was taken back in 2007, when Yamal was just a baby, has resurfaced during his record-breaking run to the final of Euro 2024. At just 16 years of age, the exciting forward has Spain within reach of another major honour.

Yamal has earned obvious comparisons to Argentine superstar Messi, with both having stepped out of the famed La Masia academy system in Catalunya. The talented teenager has embraced that talk, with his career remarkably linked to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner since before he could even walk.

Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, has told Mundo Deportivo of the now legendary picture of his son with Messi: “Maybe it was Lamine who blessed Leo!” He went on to say that said shot is “a coincidence in life”, as nobody could have predicted what would happen next.

Messi has gone on to become one of the greatest players to ever lace a pair of boots – collecting a historic haul of trophies – while Yamal is being billed as a Golden Ball winner of the future. Mounir always believed that his son would tread that path, adding: “I knew he was going to be a star. Anyone who is a father knows this and any father wants their son to be the best. I wish him the best in life and in the future and I hope they win the Euro Cup and we are all champions.”

Yamal’s father went on to say that the hottest of prospects “wants to be the youngest player to win a Euro Cup, like any child”. The Barca starlet will get the opportunity to rewrite the history books when facing England in Berlin on Sunday, with that contest taking place the day after his 17th birthday.