Spain and Barcelona star Lamine Yamal stated that he has drawn inspiration from legends like Lionel Messi and Luka Modric, particularly highlighting their “clever” passing skills as key influences on his own game.

The 18-year-old Yamal is recognized for his exceptional passing, a natural fit for his style given his strong vision on the field, though he wasn’t celebrated for dribbling in his younger days.

“The funny thing about all this is that as a little kid, I wasn’t much of a dribbler,” Yamal shared in a recent interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes. “I mean, I’ve never been the kind of kid you’d see dribbling a lot or getting past my opponents. I ran a lot, I scored a lot of goals but above all, I’ve always had pretty good vision of the game since I was a little kid.”

Yamal spoke further on how watching Messi’s unique assists influenced him: “I’ve seen a lot of players who are very good at passing who made long passes but Messi made passes that were almost a goal, and I learned from that. I’ve watched [Luka] Modric make passes with the outside of the foot. Those are things I really appreciated more than dribbling because they’re somewhat more clever.”

Currently, Yamal has scored 37 goals in 144 games for club and country. He mentioned two standout goals, including one in Spain’s 2-1 victory against France in the semifinals of Euro 2024, which they later won.

The second was from this month in Barcelona’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League, a stunning strike using the inside of his foot.

“If I had to choose only one, I think in terms of importance and beauty, it’d be the goal against France at the Euros, and I really like the one against Brugge.”