Rocafonda, Spain – The entrance web page of Spain’s greatest sports activities tabloid Marca screamed LAMINE YA! (Lamine Now!) as hypothesis mounted over whether or not the teenage surprise boy would signal a brand new contract for FC Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal is predicted to resume his contract with Barcelona earlier than he turns 18 in July, his agent Jorge Mendes assured reporters final week.
Deco, the sporting director of Barca, denied stories that Yamal’s agent had requested that the 17-year-old be made the very best paid participant within the dressing room, whereas Spanish media speculated that he may look ahead to a 10-fold pay improve to greater than 15 million euros ($17m) web per season.
Regardless of the astronomical sums concerned in signing the gifted winger who helped Barca clinch the La Liga title this season, it’ll appear a world away from the very humble beginnings of this Spanish sporting prodigy.
Yamal grew up in a poor space of Mataro, an industrial city positioned about 32km (20 miles) north of Barcelona, however it’s a world away from the glitz and glamour of the Catalan capital.
The Barca footballer realized his craft on the streets of Rocafonda, a working-class neighbourhood of Mataro.
About half of the 11,000 individuals who reside on this nook of Mataro are categorized as “susceptible to poverty”, in response to the Spanish Nationwide Statistics Institute. Many flats seem run down and lack primary modern-day facilities like lifts. One centre in Rocafonda gives assist to youngsters who’re struggling at college.
With 88 completely different nationalities within the space, Arabic halal butchers are a typical sight.
Evictions are a every day prevalence in Rocafonda as many households wrestle to pay the lease, which averages about $1,334 monthly, a fortune to many.
Gen-next inspiration
Nonetheless, soccer – or fairly Yamal – provides individuals hope right here.
“In Rocafonda, extra Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions”, reads the graffiti on the Membership de Futbol Rocafonda, the municipal soccer pitch.
Youngsters play close by, maybe dreaming that perhaps, simply perhaps, they may very well be the subsequent Lamine Yamal.
Carrying an Argentina shirt, Mohammed Kaddouri, who’s a yr youthful than Yamal, says the Barca soccer participant is an inspiration to younger individuals right here.
“Since Lamine, so many individuals have began taking part in soccer and consider they may very well be like him. It’s not simply boys however extra ladies are taking part in soccer too,” he says.
His pal Damia Castillo, additionally 16, met Yamal when he got here again to see his household, who nonetheless reside within the neighbourhood.
“He at all times talks to us like he’s a traditional individual, not like he’s some large star. He’s from right here, and so are we. It makes you suppose, you realize, perhaps it may very well be me,” Castillo advised Al Jazeera.
The Messi impact
Pals mentioned Yamal owes his precocious skills to a baptism of fireplace taking part in within the powerful streets of Rocafonda.
“Lamine realized to play so properly as a result of he began taking part in with larger youngsters. A few of these have been larger than him, and a few of them have been powerful youngsters,” says household pal Mohammed Ben Serghine.
“Regardless of what has occurred to him with all this fame, he has remained humble, and he’s good with the children when he comes again to Rocafonda to see his household.”
We meet within the Bar El Cordobes, the native bar frequented by Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, who pops in on occasion.
On the wall is a yellowing Barca shirt signed by Yamal and replete along with his {photograph}.
Final yr, the Spain winger’s father printed {a photograph} on social media of his son, which was taken when he was a child.
Yamal was cradled by then-Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi. He wrote on social media: “Two beginnings of two legends. It now seems amazingly prescient.”
The Argentina famous person was 20 on the time and had taken half in a promotional marketing campaign for FC Barcelona for UNICEF. Yamal was solely 5 months previous when his dad and mom entered him right into a raffle and he was paired up with Messi. Yamal’s smiles received over a nervous Messi on the photoshoot.
Statistically, Yamal is forward of Messi for a 17-year-old participant, in response to soccer author Ryan O’Hanlon of ESPN.
“Broadly, that is the conclusion: [Michael] Owen, Kylian Mbappe and Yamal are the most effective youngsters in trendy soccer historical past,” he wrote, basing these assertions on the variety of objectives and assists.
‘304’ celebration
Rocafonda may need been forgotten, like many different fringe, outer-suburban Barcelona neighbourhoods, have been it not for Yamal himself.
On the partitions, somebody has painted the quantity 304. It would simply be graffiti, aside from one factor. When Yamal scored a surprise objective towards France within the Euro 2024 final yr, he celebrated by making the signal three, zero, 4 along with his fingers. It was a reference to the postcode of Rocafonda, which in full reads 08304.
Because the world was transfixed by Yamal’s dazzling expertise, it was an indication that even when footballers can anticipate seven- and even eight-figure salaries, some haven’t forgotten their roots.
On the Bar Familia L Y 304 Rocafonda, run by the participant’s uncle, Abdul, you’re left in little doubt that Yamal stays trustworthy to the place he got here from.
Decked out in pictures of Yamal and signed shirts, in a single nook is a tiny, plastic model of the World Cup. It begs the thought: would possibly Yamal in the future elevate the actual factor for Spain?
Household is every thing
The participant’s personal story begins 30 years in the past when his maternal grandmother, Fatima, arrived from Morocco and took up a job in an previous individuals’s residence.
She labored to carry her seven youngsters over from Morocco and managed as a single mom.
Yamal’s mom, Sheila Ebana, is from Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony in Western Africa. The participant’s dad and mom divorced, and when she moved away from Rocafonda, she enrolled him in Membership de Futbol La Torreta in Granollers, a close-by city.
Yamal speaks fondly about his mom, who gave him the most effective childhood she may regardless of the difficulties she confronted.
“Possibly I didn’t have the most effective childhood, however I didn’t see it. I solely noticed the gorgeous, because of her,” he mentioned in an Instagram interview with person tumejorjugada.
Life for each dad and mom has modified dramatically since their son grew to become a famous person.
Ebana now has 258,000 followers on Instagram and has moved to Barcelona. His father has additionally moved to the Catalan capital.
Altering expectations
Yamal began taking part in for CF La Torreta, a small membership with 200 gamers, when he was solely 5.
On the window of the membership, there’s a {photograph} of the participant when he arrived as a small youngster and one other newer one.
“He got here right here when he was 5 years previous and stayed simply two years earlier than Barcelona got here for him,” says Jordi Vizcaino, president of CF La Torreta.
“I nonetheless can hardly consider it after I see how far he has gone, after I see Yamal taking part in for Barca and Spain. He was only a child when he got here right here and continues to be only a child actually.”
Rocio Escandell, president of the Affiliation of Rocafonda Neighbours, has recognized Yamal and his household all his life.
“Lamine has put Rocafonda on the world map. It’s a working-class space with numerous migrants, however he has made individuals right here consider they are often one thing. It doesn’t must be a footballer. It is likely to be a health care provider. Simply to consider,” she advised Al Jazeera.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Abril, is proof of how Yamal has modified expectations.
“I’ve been taking part in soccer since I used to be small, and I rating increasingly objectives. When I’m older, I need to be like Lamine,” says Abril.
