Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal needed babysitting at Euro 2024 – with teenage superstar forced to stay at Spain’s team hotel

The record-setting teenager – who made his senior bow at club level when just 15 years of age – is now the proud owner of a European Championship winners’ medal. He helped his country to see off England in a major international final the day after celebrating his 17th birthday.

Spain had to bend German labour laws during that tournament – with anybody under the age of 18 not supposed to work beyond 8pm on any given day – and they also had to make sure that the youngster was not included in any team outings to local bars and restaurants.

With that in mind, De la Fuente has told The Guardian of how Yamal had to be supervised in the team hotel: “It is important we do our work as educators and developers; there’s no escaping the fact that he was 16, a kid. There are questions of privacy, protection. When the players went out to eat, he couldn’t because he was underage. Someone with responsibility would stay at the hotel, looking after him. There are parental authorisations but, more so, a responsibility to society. The federation’s institutional responsibility goes beyond rights, legal requirements, authorisation, parental consents. So there are some inconveniences to being young – although we would all love to take a few years off.”

While Spain are handling Yamal’s undoubted potential with care, De la Fuente admits that the hottest of prospects is a special talent that deserves to be mentioned alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Co. He added: “Lamine is very good. It’s true what I said: that he’s touched by God’s wand. There are players that are different. I don’t want to get into those comparisons, because I know we’re going to start [that], and they’re different footballers, different eras. But the talent? Pfff… there’s something that sets them apart. The super mega cracks, football geniuses, those who [made] history, all have something. At that young age they all seemed different, older.”

Yamal has been included on the 30-man shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or and is expected to land a prestigious Golden Ball at some point in his career. For now, he is the favourite to walk away with the Kopa Trophy prize that is handed out to the top-performing player on the planet that is under the age of 21.