Lamine Yamal has surpassed the late legend Diego Maradona in the number of goals scored, but is still far behind superstar Lionel Messi in the Barcelona shirt.
The prodigy Yamal quickly made a big impact on the pitch and has consistently broken numerous records since his breakout year in 2023.
The talented player born in 2007 recently scored again, making a significant contribution to Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Albacete in the quarter-finals of the Spanish King's Cup.
Lamine Yamal celebrates the opening goal for Barcelona against Albacete in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on February 3rd. Photo: AP/Manu Fernandez
This was Yamal's 39th goal for the Camp Nou side, putting him one more than the late legend Maradona scored during his time at the Catalan giants.
Statistics show that the late Argentinian legend scored 38 goals and provided 23 assists in 58 appearances for Barcelona, winning two titles with the team.
Even though Yamal needed 135 games to score 38 goals, the fact that an 18-year-old player ranks above the Argentinian legend on Barcelona's all-time scoring list is still incredibly impressive.
For comparison, superstar Lionel Messi needed only 98 matches to surpass the 38 goals scored by the late legend Maradona at Nou Camp. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner reached this milestone of his Argentine compatriot in February 2008.
This means Yamal would have to play 37 more games than his senior teammate Messi to break the goalscoring record of the late legend Maradona at Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal scored 39 goals, one more than the late legend Diego Maradona, while playing for Barcelona. (Photo: X)
However, despite needing more matches to reach this number, Yamal achieved it at a significantly younger age than Messi.
Specifically, Yamal is currently only 18 years old, while Messi was two years older when he scored his 39th goal for Barcelona approximately 18 years ago.
Messi was promoted to Barcelona's first team through a more stable and gradual process than Yamal. This is considered one of the reasons for his enduring and long career.
Given the demanding schedule Yamal has had since he was very young, it would be an incredible achievement if he could still play at the highest level at the age of 39, like Messi is now.
As a left-footed player with exquisite individual technique, it's only natural that Yamal is compared to superstar Messi and legend Maradona.
However, such rapid development doesn't necessarily guarantee he'll reach the same level as these two Argentinian legends. After all, they are two of the greatest players of all time.
Throughout the years, Messi has always admired Maradona and frequently mentions the Argentine legend as his idol.
"For Argentinians like me, Maradona has always been the greatest idol and the object of our deepest admiration," Messi shared in an interview with NBC Nightly News. "Legend Diego transcends everything. He empowered our generation. He made us love football in a completely different way."
Yamal has now surpassed the total number of goals scored by legendary Maradona for Barcelona, but he will need a lot more time to come close to Messi, who holds the record for most goals for the Nou Camp team.
As of now, the prodigy Yamal is still 633 goals behind superstar Messi at Barcelona, so it can be confidently stated that the record of the striker born in 1987 will be difficult to break in the near future.