Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has heaped praise on Barcelona’s teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal, calling his talent and achievements at such a young age “not normal.”
Yamal, still just 17, has already reached an extraordinary milestone of 100 appearances for Barcelona—a feat that has left Saka stunned.
“He’s top. Honestly, doing what he is doing at his age—what can you say? He’s unreal,” Saka told Sky Sports. “It’s not normal. No one does that. I don’t think I’ve seen this level from a 17-year-old, so credit to him.”
Yamal was in sensational form during Barcelona’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night, further underlining his meteoric rise.
Statistically, the youngster has already outshone what both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved by the same stage of their careers. With 49 goal contributions in his first 100 games, Yamal trails only slightly behind Messi’s 55, achieved when the Argentine was nearly 21. In comparison, Ronaldo had recorded 26 goal contributions by age 19 over his first century of appearances.
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