Former Barcelona star Thierry Henry this week made use of the opportunity to send something of a warning the way of current Blaugrana sensation Lamine Yamal.
Wide-man Lamine is of course widely considered to be the standout young talent in world football at present.
Despite being just 17 years of age, the Spanish international is already viewed as of the standout attackers in the game, as evidenced by his haul of 27 direct goal contributions in 36 appearances this season.
Lamine, for his part, is one of the first names on the team sheet of boss Hansi Flick, alongside the likes of Pedri, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.
And it is precisely such success which has this week culminated in the starlet being sent a message of warning.
Speaking as part of his role as a pundit for CBS Sports, Thierry Henry was drawn on Lamine’s explosive rise to superstardom.
And the Frenchman made use of the opportunity to call for calm and patience, highlighting the example of ex-Barca prodigy Bojan Krkić as a player who broke onto the scene at a tender age, before being weighed down by the expectations surrounding his name:
“You can see what can happen to you when you’re young and you don’t know how to deal with everything. Everything is happening very quickly.”
In the case of Bojan, Henry added:
“He got lost in terms of anxiety and not wanting to be seen too much.”
The legendary frontman continued:
“That’s something that sometimes people don’t understand and don’t want to understand either. They see you there, you’re playing and they forget that he’s a child who went from not being known to everyone thinking he’s good. Which, by the way, is good.”
Turning focus back towards Bojan, Henry concluded:
“I have already experienced that before and, by the way, I want to congratulate Bojan for how he speaks in the documentary. It was difficult to deal with all the external pressure. [He knows] what it is to be a star too quickly.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
