Lamine Yamal has shown great talent at an early age. For this very reason, the promising young Barcelona player has been compared to other players, such as the club's former captain, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, a former Manchester United player believes that in order to measure up to the two soccer legends, he must first face a rival off the field.

Lamine Yamal must stay focused

Lamine joined Barça at the age of seven, trained at the club, and became the youngest player to make his debut for the club in LaLiga. At just 18 years old, he has already won several awards: two LaLiga titles, one Spanish Super Cup, and one Copa del Rey.

Despite this, former Champions League winner Dwight Yorke said that social media causes young people, including Lamine, to lose focus, which could be detrimental to the young Barça star:

"Looking from the outside, you can't help but admire someone with Lamine Yamal's ability," Yorke began explaining in conversation with FootItalia, adding: "However, with social media, there is no hiding place for these young kids anymore. That's just the nature of where we are in the world today and you've got to understand it."

He also compared the young striker's era and career with that of the Argentina and Portugal captains, saying that staying focused will be key to developing his full potential:

"With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, you didn't see them so much on social media. These young guys are everywhere. I think that if Yamal is getting distracted away from his soccer, that can be a real hurdle for him," he said.

Despite these comparisons, Lamine himself has stated that he does not want to follow in the footsteps of CR7 or Messi, but instead wants to forge his own path away from the parallels between the two legends.

"He's young, he's learning, he's still developing. A kid is nowhere near his full potential yet. I think the next two to three years is where we will really start to find out if he's the real deal... There's no doubt he's got the full armoury of potential, like the greats. But that's just down to individuality," Yorke concluded.

Meanwhile, Lamine will remain at the club until 2031, after signing his contract on his 18th birthday, and is preparing to play in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal against Athletic Bilbao this Wednesday, January 7, at King Abdullah Sports City.