Lamine Yamal is 'touched by the magic wand of God' but Spain coach warns winger against falling 'by the way side' amid Barcelona heroics

Yamal has burst onto the scene over the last year, starring for both Barcelona and Spain. Despite being just 17, he is already a key player for club and country but national team manager De La Fuente has stressed the teenager must not get ahead of himself.

He told Mundo Deportivo: "It is a common characteristic [maturity] of this type of player. When you see that he has that touch, I say that he is touched by that magic wand of God, that he is different. These are players who, at 17 years old, have nothing to do with a boy of his age. They are much more mature, with a very important degree of responsibility, who interpret and accept any proposal and situation that you propose to them because they are brilliant. But I have also seen these footballers who have fallen by the wayside. Don’t make the mistake of wanting to walk faster than you have to, you can spoil it. You have to control that they play football very well and the thousand other details that are truly important.”

Yamal played a huge role in Spain winning Euro 2024 this summer but the winger is likely to get even better, especially under the right guidance. Now, the test is to see if the Barca academy product can take his game to the next level and cement himself at the top of the sport.

Yamal is likely to feature for Spain in Saturday's Nations League clash at home to Denmark, before hosting Serbia three days later in the same competition. The Spaniard will then return to Barcelona next week.