Lamine Yamal’s rise to fame began long before he made his debut for FC Barcelona. In January 2015, at just seven years old, he was already impressing at CF La Torreta, a small club in La Roca del Vallès, Barcelona. His remarkable skill quickly attracted attention from top youth academies in Catalonia, sparking a competition among scouts to sign him.

One of those scouts was Óscar Hernández, the coordinator of Barcelona’s under-10 team at the time. Spotting Yamal’s potential, he kept a close eye on his development. However, Barcelona soon faced a hurdle when CF La Torreta was about to finalize an agreement with Espanyol, which could have seen Yamal join their local rivals.

Refusing to let that happen, Hernández took action. In February 2015, he sent an urgent email to Marc Serra, head of Barcelona’s prestigious La Masia academy, requesting an immediate trial for Yamal. Serra responded quickly, organizing a session at Barcelona’s Ciudad Deportiva.

It didn’t take long for the coaches to see Yamal’s exceptional talent. Within just five minutes of the trial, they knew he was destined to wear the Blaugrana jersey.

From that point, his journey to becoming one of the brightest young stars in football was set in motion.