Flick Reveals Lamine Yamal’s Refusal: ‘I Asked Him If He Wanted to Come Off and He Said No’.. ‘If He’s Not the Best in the World, He Will Be’

One question from the coach in the middle of the game revealed a lot about the character of the team’s most important star, and the answer came quickly and firmly, despite all the caution surrounding workloads this season.

Just two days earlier, the same coach had made a statement that coaches rarely make about a player who is still only 19, one that places him above everyone else.

The coach is Hansi Flick and the player is Lamine Yamal. After the 3-0 win over Getafe at the Spotify Camp Nou, the German revealed in his press conference: “I asked him if he wanted me to take him off, and he said no,” according to El Desmarque.

Flick added: “He recovers well. He loves playing, but we have to manage the workload. In the first half it was easier for him.” Lamine had set up the third goal, scored by Jules Koundé in the 73rd minute.

Before the game, Flick said at his Thursday press conference, according to VAVEL: “What Lamine is doing is incredible, with us and with the Spain national team. He is a player who enjoys football and loves to compete, and you can see that in his confidence and attitude. If Lamine is not already the best player in the world, he will be.”

Flick also spoke about the depth of his squad, according to Sport: “In every position we have two or three players at a spectacular level. There is a great atmosphere in the team, and that is what I like most: everything is the team, not one player or the coach.”

On Gabriel Jesus, he said: “He is a fantastic player. He is different from Raphinha, but in front of goal he knows what he has to do.” On Anthony Gordon: “He is doing very well, even when he wasn’t scoring. He scored with England, he had confidence and he wanted to do it here.”

On the injury front, Frenkie de Jong trained with the substitutes in a more active session on Sunday, while the starters from the Getafe game did recovery work, according to Mundo Deportivo. Flick had said of the Dutchman: “He is progressing well and has no pain, but he needs time and we will give it to him. I will consider his return against Betis,” in the league game on Saturday, October 17.

Raphinha, meanwhile, misses the Galatasaray game with a minor muscle problem, after Flick said: “Although Raphinha’s injury is not serious, we have to be careful. Last season he suffered three similar injuries.”

Barcelona travel to Turkey on Monday to face Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday. Flick said of the game: “We will play in the loudest stadium in the world and we have to prepare for that. This is the Champions League, it is different.” The German coach also received LaLiga’s Coach of the Month award for September on Sunday.