Toilet tale proves Lamine Yamal’s importance to Barcelona! Ilkay Gundogan explains how he had to force substitution of teenage wonderkid

The youngster has been shattering records on a regular basis since making his senior debut in April 2023 at the age of 15. He is now a European Championship winner with Spain, while also claiming prestigious Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy prizes.

Gundogan spent a year working with Yamal in 2023-24 and was impressed by what he saw from the talented forward. He did, however, have to force Barca into replacing Yamal at one point during an unscheduled mid-game break – with the Liga giants reluctant to remove him from their plans.

Gundogan has told The Ranveer Show: “Last season we played against Porto and we were leading 1-0, and everything was going well. In the second half, at the 60th minute, we suddenly started to suffer. I felt that the opposing team became much better as if they had an extra player. After 10 minutes I found out that one of our players left the field and went to the bathroom! It was Lamine.”

Ex-Germany international Gundogan added: “Lamine was an important player so the technical staff did not want to replace him immediately, so they were waiting for him to return. When I found out, I said, ‘Guys, what’s going on? We’re playing with 10 men! Don’t you want to make a substitution?’ In the end, they had to make a substitution because they waited so long for him and he didn’t come back.”

Gundogan is now back at reigning Premier League champions Manchester City, having spent just one year in Catalunya, while Yamal will be hoping to figure prominently for Barca when they face Clasico rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday.