Lamine Yamal: When You Are Good Enough, You Are Old Enough

When Lamine Yamal first broke onto the scene, the world knew there was a gem in our hands. And it was easy to accept. We needed a breath of fresh air.

He was 15, lanky, and his eyes burned with desire. He was emboldened by that raw teenage energy that came with opportunities. Allowing it pass could spell the end but Yamal wasn't of that ilk who'd wait an eternity to be given a place. Places are kept for his kind.

Barcelona have seen incredible young players come and go. The greatest footballer the world has ever seen was once a brilliant teenager making his mark from that hallowed institute. Yet, Lionel Messi didn't make his debut at 15.

To play for Barcelona at all means you're doing something right in your life. It is the premiership of achievements in the game. One of the biggest of the elites. Home to one of the biggest sports institutions in the world.

To play for Barcelona that early bordered purely on the miraculous. It was testament to how special that gem is.

Yamal has risen in rank and status. He has grown in leaps and bounds but everything he is had been set in stone. It was written on the walls. It was only a matter of time but how quickly that time has ticked is a global phenomenon.

Despite how brilliant he is, it’s not his brilliance alone that stands him out, it’s the entertainment he is, the technical maturity he shows and the gift of his immense prowess.

In an age when football has felt robotic, dogmatic and shorn of streetwise and carefree excitement, Yamal has combined enjoyment with endurance, entertaining us within the confines of tactical limitations.

His first touch, dribbling skill, shoulder-drop, outside-foot pass, curlers form an eclectic mix of wizardry in a young man who has even not started to grow a beard.

He wears the garb of courage, rises to the occasion at the summit of games and takes over the narrative. When he performs, you have to watch, wonder and marvel at his excellence. Oppositions admire his courage, supporters love his candour, and they both make up a character that can only get better.

Yamal’s natural talent coupled with the structural magnificence of La Masia and Barcelona have made a hero in a boy. Despite his early years, it is so hard to imagine him becoming better than this. The room for improvement isn't a wide one, and not in a bad way.

At 17, wingers are seen as explosive, willing to run at every opportunity, leaving defenders in their wake and being a thorn in flesh. Not Yamal. He's hardly seen running. He plays at his pace, almost strolling, sometimes even strutting, yet efficient, effective and eloquent in his technical expression. He selects simple decisions and elects for easy choices.

That gets you wondering. What does age really matter in creative expressions or in life itself?

A 17-year-old boy who impregnates a woman and works to feed his wife and child is a father. A teenage child who works to take care of his family is probably old enough to be the breadwinner.

Neymar began to make a way for his family at 15, playing professional football and being tagged one of the best in South America already. Martin Odegaard made his international debut at 15 and has not been out of that Norwegian setup ever since.

The modern age even makes it a closer reality. Everyone has what they need to succeed in quick time. The internet is one of the greatest inventions of man, and it is making the chance to be successful a bigger one. We have seen more young people more than ever shine.

Talents like Yamal’s feels like a natural gift, but it would never have been so refined without some intense nurturing. Modern Footballers are in an advantage. Many things are to their benefits and where they may sometimes look to wince, Yamal is waving through.

What 17-year-old footballer asks Real Madrid to wait till they win before they talk? That's the greatest team on earth.

Adrien Rabiot must have smirked at himself for how Yamal stunned France at the Euros, rising to the occasion and living up to his bravado. He fears nothing and nobody.

It's hard to think of a world where who is good enough is deemed as not being old enough. Experience is a teacher and it comes with age but what happens when you live all the experience ahead of you early? When you show the prowess and character only expected of people at certain points in their lives?

What could be Yamal’s next level may be the world accepting his brilliance quickly and getting so used to it that he doesn't leave us wondrous again.

He is 17 and perhaps like that child in your house who shows a lot of readiness and maturity already; he has come of age. Let them roll and rumble.