Lamine Yamal dreams of the Ballon d’Or and knows exactly when he wants to win it. But an AI prediction placing him at Real Madrid makes him smile…
At just 17 years old, Lamine Yamal is already establishing himself as one of the greatest hopes in world football. The FC Barcelona right winger makes no secret of his ambition to win a Ballon d’Or soon, and he hopes to do so well before 2029. However, a recent artificial intelligence simulation is somewhat surprising: it predicts him a first individual title in 2029 for Barça, before two more Ballon d’Ors in 2035 and 2037… with Real Madrid. A hypothesis he humorously dismissed in an interview with As.
A Ballon d’Or before 2029?
Aware of his immense potential, Lamine Yamal doesn’t want to wait too long to be crowned the best player in the world. In an interview with AS, he revealed that he’s aiming for this trophy in the coming years:
“For the 2029 one (predicted by AI, Editor’s note), I hope to win it before then, because that would mean I’d have won the Champions League with Barça and the World Cup (in 2026) with Spain, which are my two biggest dreams.”
With 17 caps and three goals for Spain already, the Barcelona winger has had a dazzling career and hopes to accumulate trophies to strengthen his case against future Ballon d’Or contenders.
Real Madrid? “It’s false”
The other part of the artificial intelligence’s prediction particularly amused the young prodigy. Seeing him win two Ballon d’Or awards for Real Madrid in 2035 and 2037 is pure fiction, he says: “As for the other thing the artificial intelligence says, well, it’s not right. It’s false.”
Trained at La Masia, Lamine Yamal has always shown his attachment to FC Barcelona, and a move to rivals Madrid seems out of the question in his eyes, at least for the time being.
An already impressive season
The Spanish prodigy is having an excellent season, with 13 goals and 17 assists in all competitions. He is already considered a serious contender for the Ballon d’Or, alongside players like Raphinha, Kylian Mbappé, Mohamed Salah, Ousmane Dembélé, and Harry Kane.
But before thinking about the votes, Yamal knows he must win team trophies, an essential condition for claiming the most prestigious individual award:
“The first thing Barça has to do is win titles, and everything else will follow. It’s something that usually comes with team trophies, which is why I’m really looking forward to it.”
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