Lamine Yamal is frustrated at Barcelona, amid a world-record bid for his services.
The Barcelona superstar – ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best right wingers in the world right now – only signed a new contract with the Blaugrana in the summer after leading the club to a new domestic Treble, taking the iconic no.10 shirt, too.
But there is apparent discontent behind the scenes involving manager Hansi Flick, with Barça given a golden opportunity to rake in a record fee for the La Masia graduate.
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Lamine Yamal unhappy with Hansi Flick – as Barcelona could accept mammoth bid for the teenager
Barcelona hold the record for the biggest sale of all time (Image credit: Alamy)
In 2017, Barcelona sold Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a £198m move that smashed the record for the most expensive transfer of all time.
History may well repeat itself, too – the La Liga champions are said to value Yamal at double what they sold Neymar for, and with tension now reported between Yamal and Barça boss Flick, a €400m sale would seemingly solve several financial issues that have plagued the club over the last decade.
Hansi Flick is into his second season with Barcelona (Image credit: Getty Images)
Spanish outlet Fichajes have reported that Yamal is reportedly unhappy with the German’s “public criticism” of his side, with Al-Hilal having presented a world-record offer to take the star to Saudi Arabia.
Barcelona rejected the offer out of hand, however: FourFourTwo understands that the 18-year-old has a release clause of €1 billion.
While there is always a chance, however unlikely, that the Saudi giants could trigger it and force Barcelona’s hand, like PSG did with Neymar all those years ago.
Though Barcelona are in seemingly in control of selling their star this time around, though, the saga does pose a worry with Fichajes adding, “financial pressure and the player’s ambition could complicate this position”, and Yamal harbouring a “possible desire to leave”.
With Yamal’s discontent so soon after signing a new contract, Barça don’t want to have to choose between their star and their manager – but with the potential to invest upwards of £380m into a club still hampered by financial woes, a big offer from Saudi Arabia may be too good to turn down.
Yamal is the face of Barcelona (Image credit: Getty Images)
The 18-year-old heading to the Saudi Pro League, meanwhile, would undoubtedly be the biggest capture for the competition thus far and make a goliath statement about the ambition of Saudi football, with the Gulf state set to host the 2034 edition of the World Cup.
While FourFourTwo doesn’t think that this one will develop far enough for a move to materialise in January, it’s certainly a saga that may evolve over the coming years – and with Barcelona bosses famously struggling to make it past the three-year mark since Pep Guardiola, it would be no surprise if this tension proves to be the undoing of Flick, when he does eventually depart Spain.
Yamal is worth €380m, as per Transfermarkt. Barça take on Olympiacos when Champions League action returns next week.
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