"He is a footballer who is going to make history" - Spain boss Luis de la Fuente makes big claim about Barcelona youngster

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has made big claims regarding Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal. Speaking to Onda Cero, as per Barca Universal, the veteran tactician was effusive in his praise for the young winger.

Yamal, who is just 18 years old, has already made 107 appearances for Barcelona so far and scored 26 goals. He was in exquisite form in the 2024-25 season, where he bagged 18 goals and 21 assists across all competitions.

For La Roja, Yamal has already made 21 appearances, scoring six goals and bagging eight assists. The youngster has already made the right-winger's spot his own, giving tough competition to seniors in the squad.

“Lamine is a footballer who is going to make history. We need to keep him calm and cautious… developing people before footballers,” said De la Fuente.

When asked about new Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, De la Fuente mentioned that he was impressed by his abilities. The coach will be taking stock of his team with barely two weeks to go for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

“I don’t look at the player’s club of origin. Whoever we think should come to the national team will come. We have six Spanish goalkeepers who are among the ten best in the world. We’re certain that we’ll get it right with whoever we bring in,” he added.

Garcia was signed earlier in the summer transfer window from Espanyol. He started for Hansi Flick in Barca's opening LaLiga encounter against Mallorca last week. Garcia kept a clean sheet in a match that Barcelona won 3-0.

With Marc-Andre ter Stegen ruled out with an injury, Garcia has become his natural replacement, and appears to be La Blaugrana's number one shot-stopper until the German returns to the fold.

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal won the 2024 European Championship with Spain

Yamal, who has come in for a lot of appreciation from de la Fuente, was one of the stars for Spain in their European Championship title win in 2024. In the final, Spain defeated England 2-1, with Yamal providing the assist to Nico Williams' goal in the first half.

The youngster will also play a huge part in Spain's World Cup campaign and aim to replicate the form he showed at the Euros. He ended the latter tournament with the most number of assists (4), earning plaudits from pundits across the globe. He also led the list for the most goals + assists (5) in the 2024 Euros.

Spain, who are currently ranked second by FIFA, have won the World Cup only once, in 2010, with Iker Casillas as captain and Vicente del Bosque as coach. However, they have won the European Championships four times (1964, 2008, 2012, 2024).