Xavi: I Focused on La Masia During Barcelona's Financial Difficulties, Yamal Stood Out in Training

Xavi recalled the process of Barcelona discovering Yamal, saying that Yamal was different and had something special about him.

Yamal enjoyed a dream summer, and at the age of 19 he achieved one of his dreams. Representing Spain, he defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final and lifted the World Cup trophy, with Ferran Torres scoring the only goal of the match. Although Yamal had previously missed more than two months due to a muscle tear, the Barcelona No. 10 still performed well in the final.

Today, Yamal is already one of the best players in world football. Last year he came just one step away from winning the Ballon d'Or, but the eventual winner was Ousmane Dembele.

Xavi gave Yamal his Barcelona first-team debut on April 29, 2023, against Real Betis. At the time, Yamal was only 15 years, 9 months and 16 days old, making him the youngest player in Barcelona's history to make his La Liga debut.

Xavi previously revealed to El Pais how Barcelona discovered Yamal. He said: “When we arrived in Barcelona, the club was going through a difficult financial period. I always paid particular attention to La Masia.”

Xavi said: “Later I asked about all the children over the age of 14. Someone told me there was one child who was the best. We went to watch him. He was outstanding in passing, one-on-one situations and scoring, and he almost mastered every aspect of the game.”

Xavi admitted that Yamal had received offers from across Europe at the time, but he eventually convinced Yamal to stay at Barcelona. Xavi said: “He finally told me that he wanted to succeed in Barcelona. So I promoted him to the first team.”

Xavi also recalled his support for Yamal when he was not yet 16 years old: “I remember the feeling of the coaching staff at that time, and I also remember the way his teammates looked at each other when the ball was passed to Yamal’s feet during training.”

Xavi said that during the early training sessions, he immediately realized that Yamal was “different” because Yamal had “something special about him”, a quality that most players of the same age did not possess.