Soccer history was about to be made. ‘Spanish supernova’ Ramin Yamal (17, Barcelona) could have set a new world record for the highest transfer fee.
“Barcelona have rejected a €250 million ($373.1 billion) bid for the ‘wonder boy’ winger,” the U.S. publication Forbes reported on Nov. 11, citing Spanish news agency EFE.
“Lamine has been the talk of the town at the UEFA Euro 2024, where he has been the center of attention. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) offered €250 million for his transfer. However, Barcelona quickly rejected the offer, saying that they consider him a ‘non-transferable’ resource that is the cornerstone of their sporting project.”
If Barcelona had accepted the offer, Yamal would have become the most expensive player in soccer history. The previous record was set in 2017 when Neymar left Barcelona to join PSG for €222 million. At the time, Barcelona thought they were safe with that amount of money, but PSG triggered his buyout clause and took him.
There were no mistakes.
“Barcelona set the buyout for Neymar at €1 billion ($1.492 billion),” Forbes wrote. “They learned their lesson from the Neymar saga. 메이저사이트 Back then, Barcelona underestimated PSG and lost out on Neymar.”
Born in 2007, Yamal is one of Europe’s top prospects beyond Spain. He came up through the Barcelona youth ranks and has been compared to Neymar and Ronaldinho from an early age. He made his La Liga debut last April at the age of 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days.
Yamal has been a first-team regular since last season. With five goals and five assists in 37 league games, he has become Barcelona’s future and present. Barcelona quickly signed him to a new contract through 2026, with a buyout clause worth €1 billion.
Although still in high school, Yamal is a staple in the Spanish national team. He was a regular starter at Euro 2024, where he continued to shake up defenses with his trademark left-footed dribbling. In the quarterfinals against France, he scored a stunning left-footed curler to send Spain through to the final.
He also broke the record for the longest consecutive goalscoring streak in Euro history.
Yamal made history when he opened the scoring against France at the age of 16 years, 362 days. According to soccer statistics outlet Opta, no player has ever scored at a younger age in any major tournament beyond the Euros. Pele was 17 years and 239 days old when he scored his first goal at the World Cup.
PSG had a lot to do with this. They targeted him as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe, who left for Real Madrid. PSG had ambitious plans to steal Barcelona’s top talent once again, just as they had done with Neymar. The price tag was set at €250 million, surpassing Neymar’s transfer fee.
However, Barcelona quickly rejected the offer. President Joan Laporta revealed in March that they were offered €200 million for Yamal, but rejected it. And this time, he rejected an even higher offer, showing how much he values the player.
“The Barcelona technical secretariat didn’t even consider the offer for Yamal,” said Fosve. “Of course, selling him would help solve the Financial Fair Play (FFP) issue. But we couldn’t take the risk of losing an irreplaceable talent.”
Meanwhile, Yamal has officially joined the Barcelona first team squad. “Yamal and Pau Kubarsi are full members of the first team as of this Tuesday,” Barcelona announced on its website. Previously, Yamal was part of the second team and Kubarsi was part of the U19 team,” the club announced on its website.