Manchester City are eyeing Lamine Yamal amid contract uncertainty, in what has been described as a potentially “historic” move.
The teenager – ranked at no.12 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now – has enjoyed a rapid rise in the last couple of years or so, becoming a regular for Barcelona, leading them in a title challenge this season, and winning Euro 2024 last summer with his native Spain.
With Yamal a favourite for Ballon d'Or, Premier League champions Manchester City are eyeing an incredible swoop – in a move that could Barça “in a difficult situation”.
Manchester City could make Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal “the most expensive transfer in the world”
After breaking into the Barcelona side at just 16 years and 38 days old, Yamal has become the first name on the team-sheet for boss Hansi Flick, and was last summer ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the most exciting teenagers to watch this season.
Mundo Deportivo have reported that renewing the 17-year-old's contract is a “priority” and that the club value him as “a fundamental pillar of its sporting future” – but after losing several other high-profile stars in the last decade, there is still a degree of nervousness over retaining him.
Infamously, Neymar and Lionel Messi both became two of the most shocking transfers of all time when Barcelona failed to keep their stars. The former became the most expensive player ever when he swapped Catalonia for Paris Saint-Germain, distorting the transfer market forever.
Now it looks as if City have an opportunity to repeat such chaos, with Spanish outlet Fichajes going one further than Mundo's claim that the English champions are eyeing Yamal's situation.
Their report states that Pep Guardiola's side have already launched what they call “a historic offer” of €275 million – around a quarter of the winger's €1bn release clause.
It's easy to understand why such a seismic offer would be tempting for the Blaugrana – though FourFourTwo understands that if such a bid really has been launched, it would not be an official approach at this stage.
Yamal has a contract that expires in 2026 but has already told CNN that he wishes to remain at Camp Nou, going as far as to categorically state, “I want to play for Barça, and yes, I will renew my contract.”
"I don't know when [the contract will be signed], but I believe it will be soon,” the starlet said. “At the end of the day, Barça is the club of my life. I hope to renew my contract with them and to be with them for as long as possible.”
Of course, a desire to remain with Barcelona never stopped others from departing, but on this occasion, it would be almost unthinkable to see Yamal leave the club within the next season or two. City's attentiveness over the situation is likely to be a passing interest, similar to how they monitored Messi's contract saga – and anyway, a world-record bid would likely present issues with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), for now.
Chalk this one down as speculative and wide of the mark, if you hadn't already.
Yamal is worth €180m, as per Transfermarkt. City's next fixture sees them take on Crystal Palace in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, when Premier League action resumes.
