Barcelona's 17-year-old starlet Lamine Yamal was unveiled - literally - on Sunday evening
Euro 2024's breakout star Lamine Yamal has been unveiled as the latest ‘signing’ for an emerging Spanish league - but Barcelona fans don’t need to worry too much about losing their promising young winger.
Yamal, who turned 17 the day before Spain won the Euro 2024 against England in Germany this summer, lit up the tournament, becoming the youngest-ever player to feature and also score in the competition, while he also served up four assists.
This came after he broke into the Barcelona first-team last season, making 50 appearances across all competitions, scoring seven times and assisting nine goals.
VIDEO Why Gerard Pique's New Kings League Is The CRAZIEST Football Competition On Earth
It is little surprise therefore that Yamal is touted as one of the best prospects of recent times and the teenager now looks set to branch out beyond the Barcelona and Spain sides.
That’s because Yamal was unveiled on Sunday evening as the latest star of the Kings League, a tournament that former Barca defender Gerard Pique set up in 2022. In a clip shared on social media, Yamal was revealed as one of several figures wearing a hooded cloak.
"Here begins the new Kings' season,” he says after stepping out of the shadows and removing his hood. “Let's beat the game."
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Lamine Yamal, the new star of the Kings League. ⭐ pic.twitter.com/znTeCSORb5September 7, 2024
The Kings League is a seven-a-side competition that Pique set up with Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos that is heavily integrated with social media and features a number of innovative rules, such as double goals, tie-breaker penalty shootouts, sin bins and more.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Iker Casillas, Sergio Aguero, Ronaldinho, Rio Ferdinand, Eden Hazard and Pablo Hernandez have all featured in the tournament.
Aguero has played in the Kings League already
Yamal’s actual role has not yet been confirmed and it is not known if he will be actually playing in the competition or not. Spanish outlet Sport have reported that more will be revealed in the coming days, ahead of the tournament kicking off on September 15 at the Cupra Arena in Barcelona.
Yamal has started all four of Barcelona’s La Liga matches so far this season, scoring once and providing four assists.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
