Lamine Yamal named La Liga player of the year

Teenage Barcelona striker Lamine Yamal was named player of the year in la Liga on Friday after spearheading the club’s drive to the title.

The winger succeeds his Brazilian teammate Raphina, who won the award in 2025.

Yamal missed much of the first half of the campaign with groin issues but still managed 16 goals and 12 assists in the 28 Liga games he played.

Regarding Yamal, Barca said in a statement: “He is the proverbial headache for opponent defences, who have to make a real effort to try to stop the blaugrana’s attacking threats.

“Beyond the intangibles, the ⁠young Catalan scored 16 goals and ⁠provided 11 assists, with no other La Liga player providing that many passes leading to goals.”

Yamal, who has been sidelined with ⁠groin issues several times this term, is expected to be fit ⁠for Spain at the World ⁠Cup starting next week in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

He missed Barca’s last six games of the season due to a hamstring injury.

Yamal exploded onto the scene aged 16, and was an integral part ‌of ‌Spain’s record fourth European Championship triumph in 2024.