French football expert Jonathan Johnson has responded to the recent transfer rumours linking Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal with Paris Saint-Germain.
The 16-year-old winger is one of the most exciting prospects in world football right now, having already established himself as a first-team regular for Barca, whilst also winning four senior caps for the Spanish national team.
Barcelona will no doubt be delighted to have this hugely exciting talent on their hands, but it remains to be seen how easy it will be to keep hold of him if big names like PSG are showing an interest.
Still, Johnson perhaps offered fans of the Catalan giants some reassurance as he discussed the Yamal-PSG stories with CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column.
Yamal transfer: Can PSG afford to sign the Barcelona sensation?
“The Lamine Yamal and PSG stories are interesting – how much truth is there to PSG’s interest? Well, they’re always interested in the best young talents around, and although I’d say their interest is stronger when it’s domestic-based talent now, hailing from the Paris region where possible, Yamal is certainly one of the world’s most exciting prospects, so the links make sense,” Johnson said.
“Still, is a deal for Yamal actually realistic? I think if PSG could move for him at a favourable price, but if it’s a question of triggering his release clause at Barcelona, and we know that they have extremely elevated release clauses, I don’t think that’s a realistic scenario.
“PSG will have money to spend once Mbappe moves on, but the way I’d expect them to spend that is to go a handful of players, rather than blowing it all on one name. I think it’ll be three to five players, as opposed to just one or two big names.
“If the deal was interesting and favourable to PSG financially then they’d look into it for sure, but I don’t think he’ll be at the top of their shopping list for now if the price tag remains in the hundreds of millions, as rumours have suggested it would be.”
In short – Yamal’s release clause surely protects Barcelona, with PSG now looking to take their project in a slightly different direction as they prepare for life after Kylian Mbappe, with the French superstar set to be a free agent when his contract at the Parc des Princes expires this summer.