Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal’s style of play will not suit Manchester United, Rene Meulensteen has said. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, Xavi Simons and Florian Wirtz are proof that a player like Yamal would not thrive at Old Trafford.
Rene added that Lamine would be better suited to teams like Arsenal, Liverpool or City because Amorim’s system cannot accommodate him.
His words, “Could Lamine Yamal make an impact in the Premier League? It’s an interesting question because when Gerard Pique came to Manchester United he didn’t really break through. He went back to Barcelona and because La Liga was better suited for him, in my opinion, than the Premier League, he achieved everything he wanted to achieve. We won league titles, domestic cups, the Champions League, the World Cup, the lot.
There’s a lot of players in Spain that never really had the urgency to come and play in the Premier League and some that have, haven’t necessarily been a success. A lot of times, the other way round, it’s easier for them to go from the Premier League to Spain because the league is different and it suits them better.
Do not underestimate what we’ve seen from Xavi Simons at Tottenham Hotspur and Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. Would that happen with Lamine Yamal? He’s in a Barcelona team that will keep growing. He’s already won things. He’s in a strong national side.
Yamal is a good athlete, but the Premier League throws a completely different physical challenge at you in comparison to the Spanish league. But I am sure he could play in the Premier League, without a shadow of a doubt, because he is an outstanding winger.
I would love to see him at Manchester United but Ruben Amorim’s system wouldn’t suit him. He’d be better suited for Arsenal or Manchester City or even Liverpool. Would he be a worthy successor to Mohamed Salah one day? 100%.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Lamine Yamal is the hottest prospect in football. He’s lovely to watch, great on the eye and what he’s already done in the game is impressive. Sometimes things fall into place and that’s what has happened so far for him with Barcelona and Spain. He seems a levelheaded lad and it’s important how his environment reacts to him and those around him too.
I think the one thing that he can learn from Messi and his counterparts like Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta and even [Cristiano] Ronaldo, is the determination, the constant determination to succeed, the constant drive to get better and never let go. That is remarkable and is never a given.
Look at Ronaldinho. He had two unbelievable seasons with Barcelona. He was almost Ronaldo and Messi rolled into one. He had the skill, the pace, the whole lot and was constantly exciting to watch. But he never had the determination for the longevity that you need.
Eventually, at one point, and this is something for Yamal to deal with, if you play at such a high level, so many games, at an early age, there can be an element of mental fatigue. You have to go again and obviously Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have stayed away from any real long-term injuries which is massive. And remember, Messi and Ronaldo have been kicked left and right and all over the place but they’ve not suffered any long-term muscular injuries, hamstrings or ACL issues.”
