Key Highlights
- Meanwhile, Yamal is 60 ahead of where Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappé was at the same age. Just think about that for a second. This inventive, daring, creative, technically exquisite young lad, from a working-class background, is at least 95 goal contributions ahead of the game's two behemoths, Messi and Ronaldo, and is increasing the like-for-like gap with each passing week.
- And he's doing so while suffering painfully for months from the type of groin injury which should either be drastically restricting his development, or leaving him on the sidelines -- as it has done with Nico Williams at Athletic Club. But, no, right now Yamal is proving immune to pain, immune to Messi/Ronaldo comparisons, immune to the potentially corruptive impact of huge wealth and trophy success as a teenager. Even if you set the stats aside, we've learned several inarguable things about Yamal already; firstly, that he possesses the same inherent, ferocious, indomitable competitive aggression which fed, and still feeds, Messi. Without in any way deprecating Ronaldo -- because his will to win and competitive aggression are both elite -- there is something in his personality, something about his ego, which means he wants to be regarded individually as the best.
- I've been in his presence when he has said exactly that. But neither Messi nor Yamal are as driven by that individualistic, egotistic compartment of human nature.
- For them, the constant demand is: "Give me the ball, give me an opponent, let me thrill, let me beat him, let me score or assist and let us win.""Us" ...
- that's the key. That we are watching a close facsimile of Messi, who is already outstripping pound-for-pound comparative numbers, is, legitimately something of a miracle.