Lamine Yamal 'has a lot to prove', says former coach who calls Barcelona star world's best

Lamine Yamal cannot stay out of the headlines right now, and the Barcelona star's former youth coach has added to the noise with a bold assessment: the teenager is already the best player in the world — but the best is yet to come.

Iván Carrasco, who worked closely with Yamal during his formative years, told Cadena SER that the teenager's rise to the summit of the game was no surprise to anyone who saw him up close in his youth.

"It was very obvious, an incredible natural talent. Everyone who worked closely with Lamine knew he had a lot of potential, a lot of natural talent, and that it was only a matter of time," Carrasco said.

Yamal is being tipped to win the Ballon d'Or next month at the tender age of 19, following a season in which he won La Liga with Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain. His early-season form for club and country has only strengthened his credentials, with his numbers this campaign already better than last season's.

And Carrasco believes that, remarkable as Yamal's achievements already are, football has still barely scratched the surface of his ability.

"For me, he's the best footballer in the world right now, and I think we haven't seen everything he's capable of yet. He's still very young, he has a lot to prove, even though he's already leading a team as important as FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, at just 18 or 19 years old. We still have a lot to see," he said.

Carrasco acknowledged that Yamal's numbers in last season's regular league campaign were not his best, but argues the player remains in his breakout phase — and that the current campaign is already a step forward.

"He's won La Liga, the most important championship like the World Cup with the Spanish national team... Maybe last season he didn't have the best numbers in the regular league, but he's still in his breakout phase. This season's numbers are already better than last season's," Carrasco added.

A different kind of star

Beyond the pitch, Carrasco also offered insight into Yamal as a person — and admitted he is cut from a very different cloth to previous Barcelona greats such as Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.

"He's sincere, honest. He's a person with a very strong character. He knows the talent he has, that he's in the top 1 or top 2 in the world, and he says so openly," Carrasco said.

"He's not the type of footballer that people generally accept most readily, a humble footballer like Iniesta or Messi, but this is his way of being, and it's his natural way of expressing himself."