Lamine Yamal

It can be hard to convey to others how skilled or transcendent a talent a player in a sport is if they aren’t regularly watching. For me that was a very long period where I just didn’t get how good Nikola Jokic was. It was because I wasn’t watching and when I did, it all clicked into place. It wasn’t just the highlights, it was all the little things he did to impact the game.

Lamine Yamal is 17 and has been setting the soccer world on fire. Last year at 16, he played significant minutes in Euro 2024, assisted the first goal in the finals, and was the youngest player ever to win it. This season he has been pivotal in Barcelona’s offense, seemingly involved in almost every attack. He was electric in the Champions League semi-final legs against Inter. And then promptly took Barcelona to a league title.

If you have not watched, you have to make time for it. He looks to be one of the best players in the world. Hell he might be on that short list already.