Former Barcelona youth coach hails academy gem – ‘Different from the rest’

Javier Saviola was a key member of the Barcelona youth setup not too long ago.

Serving as the assistant manager in Barça U19, the Argentine had the fortune of witnessing many of Barcelona’s present-day stars up close and personal, including Lamine Yamal.

Yamal was under the tutelage of Saviola for a brief period in the Barcelona youth setup. In fact, the Argentine, in a recent interview with SPORT, has admitted that Yamal was different from the rest.

Saviola on Yamal and other Barcelona prodigies

“We saw Lamine as different from the rest. When you see players like Lionel Messi, who I had the opportunity to see when I was 12 or 13 years old, you realize it immediately, because you’ve been in football for a long time,” he said.

Saviola served as an assistant manager for the Barcelona U19 squad between 2022 to 2023. In this one year, he was able to monitor Yamal quite closely.

“When a player this young shows different things, especially qualities that are uncommon at that age, you know there’s something special. And with Lamine that happened to us,” he said.

“We weren’t worried about his footballing side, but about how to manage him, because we knew that in the future he would have a great chance of making it to Barça’s first team,” he added.

Saviola also talked about other Barcelona academy talents who showed exceptional talent alongside Yamal. He even went on to hail Xavi Hernandez for his keen eye.

“Along with Yamal, there were also Hector Fort and two or three other players. It was really an exceptional process that even Xavi detected right away and asked us for references about him,” he said.

Saviola heaps praise on Lamine Yamal (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Continuing, Saviola said: “From there, we began to work with them, and for us, it was a source of pride, because we managed to get five or six players to very important teams at such a young age.

“Seeing them succeed with the tools we tried to provide them with was a huge accomplishment. Honestly, it was an extraordinary job,” he added.

Saviola is not the only one who has heaped praise for Yamal, as the winger has also received high praise from Atletico Madrid trio Julian Alvarez, Robin Le Normand and Conor Gallagher recently.

Saviola on Barcelona’s season so far

Aside from talking about the early development of Lamine Yamal and other young talents, Saviola also offered his thoughts on Barcelona’s season so far.

“I give Barça a lot of chances. I’m liking them a lot and they’re acquiring virtues that they didn’t have before, such as defensive solidity. They’re doing a great job,” he confessed.

“In the first leg against Benfica, they played a large part with 10 players and knew how to cope and overcome a very complicated situation. That’s where you see the real teams,” he added.

Finally, the Argentine highlighted Barcelona’s team spirit and togetherness, admitting that it could go a long way in helping the team succeed.

“Football-wise, Barça are doing very well this year. All the players are at a very high level, which is difficult to achieve in a team because you usually have two or three who stand out from the rest.

“But what we see in this Barça is their very strong starting eleven, and then some players on the bench who they may even be above,” he concluded.

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