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Graeme Souness fires Jude Bellingham warning to ‘very special’ Lamine Yamal
Lamine Yamal in action for Barcelona against Inter Milan (Picture: Getty) Graeme Souness believes Lamine Yamal has the potential to become ‘one of the greatest players in history’ but says Jude Bellingham’s ‘concerning’ behaviour should be a cautionary tale for the Barcelona superstar. Yamal, 17, underlined his status as the most exciting young player on the planet with a quite brilliant performance in the Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter Milan last week. Barca looked down and out as they trailed 2-0 at home but Yamal scored a sensational goal to help Hansi Flick’s side get back in the tie ahead of their trip to Milan on Tuesday night. Yamal was roundly praised following his heroics against Inter Milan and Souness believes the display was further proof that he has the potential to go down as one of the greats of the game. The game against Inter was Yamal’s 100th for Barcelona and at the age of 17 the Euro 2024 winner already has 22 goals and 33 assists for the Spanish giants. ‘Watching Lamine Yamal against Inter Milan, no one at 17 should be that good,’ Souness told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s just wrong! ‘My tongue is placed firmly in cheek by the way but there’s no denying we are watching the emergence of a very special talent. He’s already played 100 first-team games and he’s not 18 until July. Yamal produced a brilliant performance in the Champions League (Picture: Getty) ‘I said similar things last summer when I first watched him for Spain at the European Championship and what is encouraging is that he has continued to improve. ‘He has the potential, and I say that in bold and capital letters, POTENTIAL, to be one of the greatest ever. ‘What’s difficult to comprehend for someone his age is not just his talent or athleticism, it’s his decision-making on the football pitch. He makes decisions you’d expect from a player much beyond his years. ‘Trevor Francis was one of the best young players I ever saw. He was tearing up in Birmingham City’s first team at 16. This kid made his debut for Barcelona at 15. Jude Bellingham has endured a frustrating season at Real Madrid (Picture: Getty) ‘He is already outstripping Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the same age. Add the fact that he enjoys the discipline of doing the hard yards too and he looks, from afar, to be a thoroughly good sort. ‘He will be rewarded well of course but going forward he will receive an awful lot of attention. ‘The difficulty is maintaining that level-headedness. Making sure every day remains a school day and that you always come into work wanting to learn.’ Souness believes Yamal can learn from Bellingham’s frustrating and ‘concerning’ second season at Real Madrid. Football icon Graeme Souness (Picture: Getty) The England star lifted Champions Leagues and La Liga trophies during his first season at the Bernabeu but could end the current campaign without any more silverware. Even more worrying, in the eyes of Souness, is Bellingham’s ‘questionably’ conduct on the pitch. Bellingham has almost as many bookings as goals this season and was sent off for the second time at the end of Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey final defeat to Barcelona for approaching the referee in ‘an aggressive manner’. ‘Lamine Yamal doesn’t even have to look too far to see an example of how things can start to unravel,’ Souness added. ‘Watching Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid of late has been concerning. He had an incredible first season in Spain, looked a world-beater but now I’m afraid it looks like he’s not listening anymore. ‘I hope I’m wrong. But this year has been a disappointment, and you have to question some of Bellingham’s behaviour, showing dissent, needlessly getting into trouble with referees. ‘If he is listening to anyone then their advice looks misguided. And, if he is putting this attitude down to what he thinks is overexuberant shows of passion, then he is also mistaken. ‘It’s a perfect example of what Yamal needs to avoid.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Graeme Souness believes Lamine Yamal has the potential to become ‘one of the greatest players in history’ but says Jude Bellingham’s ‘concerning’ behaviour should be a cautionary tale for the Barcelona superstar.
Yamal, 17, underlined his status as the most exciting young player on the planet with a quite brilliant performance in the Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter Milan last week.
Barca looked down and out as they trailed 2-0 at home but Yamal scored a sensational goal to help Hansi Flick’s side get back in the tie ahead of their trip to Milan on Tuesday night.
Yamal was roundly praised following his heroics against Inter Milan and Souness believes the display was further proof that he has the potential to go down as one of the greats of the game.
The game against Inter was Yamal’s 100th for Barcelona and at the age of 17 the Euro 2024 winner already has 22 goals and 33 assists for the Spanish giants.
‘Watching Lamine Yamal against Inter Milan, no one at 17 should be that good,’ Souness told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s just wrong!
‘My tongue is placed firmly in cheek by the way but there’s no denying we are watching the emergence of a very special talent. He’s already played 100 first-team games and he’s not 18 until July.
‘I said similar things last summer when I first watched him for Spain at the European Championship and what is encouraging is that he has continued to improve.
‘He has the potential, and I say that in bold and capital letters, POTENTIAL, to be one of the greatest ever.
‘What’s difficult to comprehend for someone his age is not just his talent or athleticism, it’s his decision-making on the football pitch. He makes decisions you’d expect from a player much beyond his years.
‘Trevor Francis was one of the best young players I ever saw. He was tearing up in Birmingham City’s first team at 16. This kid made his debut for Barcelona at 15.
‘He is already outstripping Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the same age. Add the fact that he enjoys the discipline of doing the hard yards too and he looks, from afar, to be a thoroughly good sort.
‘He will be rewarded well of course but going forward he will receive an awful lot of attention.
‘The difficulty is maintaining that level-headedness. Making sure every day remains a school day and that you always come into work wanting to learn.’
Souness believes Yamal can learn from Bellingham’s frustrating and ‘concerning’ second season at Real Madrid.
The England star lifted Champions Leagues and La Liga trophies during his first season at the Bernabeu but could end the current campaign without any more silverware.
Even more worrying, in the eyes of Souness, is Bellingham’s ‘questionably’ conduct on the pitch.
Bellingham has almost as many bookings as goals this season and was sent off for the second time at the end of Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey final defeat to Barcelona for approaching the referee in ‘an aggressive manner’.
‘Lamine Yamal doesn’t even have to look too far to see an example of how things can start to unravel,’ Souness added.
‘Watching Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid of late has been concerning. He had an incredible first season in Spain, looked a world-beater but now I’m afraid it looks like he’s not listening anymore.
‘I hope I’m wrong. But this year has been a disappointment, and you have to question some of Bellingham’s behaviour, showing dissent, needlessly getting into trouble with referees.
‘If he is listening to anyone then their advice looks misguided. And, if he is putting this attitude down to what he thinks is overexuberant shows of passion, then he is also mistaken.
‘It’s a perfect example of what Yamal needs to avoid.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
